Camping ban

By Kath Gannaway
YARRA Ranges Council has stamped out illegal camping at public parks such as Coronation Park and the Don Road Sporting Complex in Healesville and Lillydale Lake.
At the same time the council moved to protect some of the shire’s most vulnerable residents.
Councillors carried a motion at their 12 April meeting to approve the General Provisions Local Law 2010 which will outlaw camping on council land and roadsides without a permit.
The law directly affects people illegally camping at the popular Lillydale Lake, some of whom were said to be homeless.
People working local casual labour jobs, such as fruit picking at local vineyards and orchards saw it as a prime location to stay, as did some of the district’s homeless.
This led to Cr Dunn putting forward an alternate motion at last week’s meeting – to still adopt the local law subject to council officers helping to find alternative accommodation for those who had nowhere else to stay.
It was carried unanimously.
Officers will now enlist the help of community agencies such as Wesley Mission, Anchor and the Salvation Army and pass on homelessness contact cards to those who need them.
Cr Dunn said the council had received dozens of complaints from local residents about the camping problem.
Councillor Noel Cliff however, said he hadn’t seen anything at the lake in his visits there to make him feel uncomfortable.
He said he was glad homelessness in the ranges had been highlighted as an issue, however and welcomed Cr Dunn’s alternative motion.
“We can’t just boot these people out and hide behind local laws as the reason why,” he said.
“They have to have somewhere warm to go and we, as a shire, have to be aware and compassionate.”
Anchor CEO John Devine spoke of the harsh reality facing homeless people throughout Victoria.
“There’s a vacancy rate of just 1.5 per cent,” he said.
“There’s simply nowhere near enough housing.”
Mr Devine said his organisation had a “really good” relationship with the council based on neither side wanting to see homeless people disadvantaged.
“But even for most of us, homelessness is just a job loss or family break-up away.”
Yarra Ranges mayor Terry Avery acknowledged the shire’s need for more budget accommodation and said council was considering a number of options to address the situation.