Trees fall, playground to rise at the site of Victoria's former tent city

Work is underway to transform the site of Victoria's former homeless camp into a children's playground.

Anarborist'sinspection of the trees on the site found that nine had shallow roots and were unlikely to survive the planned soil removal.

Soil testing found residual contaminants, including lead, gasoline, diesel and trace amounts ofmethamphetamines.

Thatsoil is slated to be trucked from the grounds and crews removed nine of the site's 20 trees on Friday.

A neighbourhood consultation concluded that a playground was the most popular choice for redeveloping the site.

The area was home to about 100 homeless people who lived in tents and makeshift shelters for about 10 months.

The B.C. government received a court injunction to remove the campers in August 2016.

Remediation work is expected to be complete next month.The playground is expected to open in the spring.

With files from Megan Thomas