Following online discussion around campers at Kangaroo Bay over the last 24 hours we felt it was important to provide clarity.
Council has been working with the Salvation Army and individuals on the site over a number of months, in a respectful and considered way, allowing a number of groups over that time to reside in the area. We know there are no easy fixes to the homelessness issue and respect that we all need to work together on this.
We followed our normal protocol with the most recent group of campers, working with the relevant local homelessness support program, over a number of weeks. Assertive outreach workers from that program visited the site a number of times, to see what assistance the campers needed, and to request that they clean up the space, stop burning toxic materials on site and to behave in a socially reasonable way. They issued a warning that council would have to act if they did not do so and the campers were given the opportunity and time to voluntarily move on. Unfortunately, verbal abuse, aggression and other anti-social behaviour continued and the people on site did not clean up the space or move on.
As a result of this antisocial behaviour, council officers made the difficult decision that this group needed to be moved on for the safety of the entire community. This was done yesterday with the group moving on at the request of council officers, without incident.
If you’re experiencing homelessness or want to find out more about this important issue visit – Safe Accommodation – Live Clarence Live Clarence