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Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Councillor pushes for 'overnight camping' policy for Chatham homeless encampment
Michael Bondy plans to put forward a motion at a special meeting of municipal council next Monday. "My motion basically would allow for overnight camping in parks, but not during the day," he said. At issue is Chatham's large homeless encampment that recently was forced to move. The community of roughly 50 tents was near the Thames River in the city's downtown, but upcoming construction work forced it to be moved. Since then, a lot of those people have relocated further east to a municipal green space beside the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) building — and closer to more homes. "That would alleviate the encampment kind of situation that we're in," said the Ward 6 Chatham-Kent councillor. "Municipal land would be available for sheltering overnight, but then those people would have to leave during the day with their stuff." WATCH | Confusion inside Chatham's encampment along the riverfront earlier in July: The motion seeks to limit temporary shelters erected on municipal land to one hour before sunset until one hour after sunrise. "I don't believe it's fair to the community that an area with soccer fields and a trail system has been basically commandeered by a small group of people that have affected the lives and, frankly, the property values. The businesses are nervous. Something's got to be done." If supported, Bondy's motion would enable bylaw enforcement and police officers to remove, seize or impound property that is unlawfully found. "I don't think it would be an arrest. It would just be a kind of a move along. I'm sure some sort of fine would probably be associated with it, but hopefully, there's compliance and that wouldn't be necessary." Bondy says his motion stems from the concerns of many citizens who have reached out to him. "Open drug use, garbage, noise, inconvenience. People feel unsafe. They feel that the green space has been effectively kind of occupied," he said. "Frankly, I think a lot of these folks probably will decide not to do it and choose somewhere else because it's very inconvenient for them to pitch a tent and have to take it down in the morning." 'Significant issue,' says mayor Chatham-Kent Mayor Darrin Canniff hopes Monday's meeting will help find a balance between the rights of unhoused people and the rights of the area's homeowners. More than 1,700 people have signed a petition expressing concerns about the encampment, and Canniff said Thursday he had 43 calls to return on the topic. "I'm not sure that I've had an issue, that I've had that many people reaching out," Canniff said. "It's a significant issue in the community, and we owe it to the residents to have a public discussion about it." Unresolved issues Since people have set up the encampment on PUC property, there was a plea from the Chatham-Kent Police Service for people to stop calling 911. Ontario courts have upheld the rights of unhoused people to camp on municipal land if there are insufficient alternative shelter options. Chatham-Kent has an expansive policy guiding where camping can take place, but Canniff said he will put forward new proposals at the Monday meeting. "You're allowed to have an encampment or a tent within 10 metres of a residential property. ... When you look at London, for instance, [it's] 100 metres. Look at Sarnia; they put a kilometre. So, you know, we're 10 metres. … Do we feel as council that that's fair that someone can set up an encampment 10 metres behind your residence?" Chatham-Kent-Leamington MPP Trevor Jones told CBC News the decision to move the encampment rests entirely with the municipality, but the Ontario government believes residential areas are not places for encampments. "I am proud to support Bill 6 – the Safer Municipalities Act, which gave law enforcement the tools they requested to remove encampments from public areas and ensure the safety of residents," Jones said. "Furthermore, our government has provided over $3 million in direct funding to support vulnerable individuals in Chatham-Kent, along with an additional $2 million for supportive housing. We believe no one should be left behind."
CBC
15-07-2025
- General
- CBC
Inside Chatham's encampment, confused people ask where they can go before Monday eviction
Christina Ratte has spent hours of her days this week trying to figure out where a relative living in a Chatham encampment can move to before Monday's eviction deadline. She says the dozens of people living in tents at an encampment in a park downtown on the edge of the Thames River are frustrated with conflicting information from different authorities. "Are you wanting them to go out and to buy measuring tapes and like, actually check, just wander around and just check, 'OK, am I 100 metres from the closest school playground?,'" said Ratte. Chatham-Kent's encampment protocol prevents people from setting up shelter near schools, playgrounds or along private property lines. Ratte has been scrambling between online maps and calls to area officials to find a space where her relative could live. "The rules are technically complicated,' she said. "A few are even confusing to me and I'm a bookkeeper with a college education." People living in tents say searching for housing, jobs difficult task The municipality wants people out of the park by Monday because a construction project requires the site for equipment storage into next year. But people living at the site say they're unable to pay for housing and are on wait lists for affordable units that could take years to become vacant. Ron Cowell, standing in front of a water-logged tarp covering the collapsed tent he's lived in for nearly a year, said being homeless makes it nearly impossible to find stable housing or a job. "The major deal is to get up in the morning in one piece, the same piece you went to bed in, and survive through the course of the day," said Cowell. He doesn't have a phone or a laptop but when he does have access to rental listings he sees prices that are beyond his budget. "I mean, I'm looking at one bedrooms that are between $1,800 and $2,600 a month. For a one bedroom." Police kick people off of property municipality said is OK He's watched people pack up all their possessions at the encampment to head for a new place after last week's eviction notice, only to see them return a while later to move back into the park. "There's been some who have gone but have been sent back," said Cowell. Ratte has heard the same thing and wants clarity on where people can go. "People have tried and they keep on being sent back, so I'm at square one again," she said. People at the site tell CBC News that one of the residents packed up their stuff and moved to another site that was suggested to them, when they were told to leave the park. But once they arrived, a police officer told them they couldn't stay there and sent them back downtown. 'May be some confusion,' says police That was a misunderstanding by police, according to Reach Out Chatham-Kent (R.O.C.K), an outreach group that has visited the site daily to help. On Thursday, the municipality confirmed the site does fit within the encampment protocol and people can set up shelters there, which has been communicated to police. A spokesperson for the Chatham-Kent police service said they're looking into the incident. "We recognize that there may be some confusion around this matter but please note that our officers are acting in good faith based on the information and guidance available to them," said spokesperson Shelomi Legall. Confusion, uncertainty for dozens living in Chatham encampment who have been told they need to relocate 5 days ago Duration 2:30 Residents of a Chatham encampment were recently told they need to leave the area while the municipality does construction work. But there's uncertainty for many about where to go next. The CBC's Chris Ensing reports. Deadline to leave is Monday morning The confusion has made for a stressful time at the park, said Danny Zimmerman, who visits often to help friends living in the encampment. "I think they should talk to us more," said Zimmerman. "Get together with us and talk to us instead of just jumping in our faces and saying, 'this is what's happening, this is what we're doing.'" The municipality and R.O.C.K. have offered to help connect people to housing supports and move items ahead of the Monday deadline. But the director of housing services in Chatham-Kent says they know not everyone will be able to find a bed. "We are in desperate need of supportive housing in our community in Chatham-Kent," said Kim Crew. "We don't have any. Our council has been pretty vocal about the need for it." Until the municipality gets that housing, "there's going to be no solution for some folks," Crew said. Ratte said her relative is living in the park after a house they lived in burned down, destroying all of their possessions. With no space to take her relative in her own home, Ratte has been supporting them while they live in the park. She's frustrated with the confusion about where people should go and what could happen if they don't leave. "If the cops show up and they haven't moved, the cops will take everything they own and throw it out," said Ratte. After her relative's house fire, Ratte says she worries losing what's left could be unbearable for her family member.
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Chatham-Kent encampment dismantled as Monday deadline passes
Municipal authorities in Chatham-Kent have followed through on dismantling a homeless encampment located in Rotary Park near the Thames River in downtown Chatham. The Municipality of Chatham-Kent issued an eviction notice on July 2, 2025 in order to carry out federally-mandated construction work. That deadline was Monday, and while most in the encampment had moved last week, about a dozen people remained Monday morning. The process was carried out Monday in collaboration between Chatham-Kent municipal authorities, Reach Out Chatham-Kent (R.O.C.K) and the police department. Finding a home Director of housing services in Chatham-Kent Kim Crew says that R.O.C.K.'s involvement has been vital in this process, where so many people are worried about being relocated. "Our partners at R.O.C.K. have been meeting with folks daily for them to pick a new location of where to go that meets within the encampment protocols that our council passed last November," Crew told CBC News. Chatham-Kent's encampment protocol prevents people from setting up shelter near schools, playgrounds or along private property lines. People in the encampment have said that the deadline, the complexity of the protocol and mixed messages from different authorities, have created confusion in where to go next. The vast majority of campers left last week, but some remained Monday. People in the park were expected to not only move, but to have also picked out a new spot for relocation. Chatham Kent's Public Utilities Commission has allowed access to a piece of land near Chatham-Kent's water plant that falls within the encampment protocol. R.O.C.K.'s executive director Renee Geniole says that is where the majority of people from the Rotary Park encampment have chosen to go. "It's very stressful and traumatic for people who are living day-to-day and are in survival mode," Geniole says. "They're worrisome about who's going to support them — they get a lot of negative flashback from our community already." "A lot of times they feel like they're on their own, so we have to step in and let them know that we're here to help. Billie Jo Humphrey, a resident of Chatham-Kent, has expressed concern over the relocation close to the water plant — where her elderly mother lives nearby. "My mom's 76-years-old with Alzheimer's," Humphrey says. "She can let anyone in that building and she doesn't know not to." "It's either here or some other place. Here, they're affecting people that are seniors." When asked by CBC News why a police presence was necessary on deadline day, Crew responded that she hopes that it won't be required. "So far everyone has been willing to work with us," she said. "It really helps that we have our outreach partners R.O.C.K. here because relationships have been built." Crew added that the encampment is symptomatic of the housing crisis in both the region and the country. "We in Chatham-Kent don't have enough affordable housing, we don't have any supportive housing and we are lacking funding from our provincial and federal governments," Crew said. Community relief For some local community members, the operation today brings both a sense of relief, but also empathy for the people that have been relocated. Brian Fraser is a long time member of the Rotary Club of Chatham. "I'm relieved I guess you could say," Fraser says. "Since the encampment started last summer our Rotary Club has been patient and empathetic with those who are here." "I hope that this is a solution and the needs of all people of the municipality of Chatham are looked after."
CTV News
07-07-2025
- General
- CTV News
Chatham-Kent to clear Thames Street homeless encampment ahead of fall construction
A homeless encampment is seen in Chatham-Kent on Sept. 12, 2024. (Chris Campbell/CTV News Windsor) The Municipality of Chatham-Kent says it will begin clearing an encampment along the Thames River this month to make way for critical slope stabilization work scheduled to begin this fall. Officials say residents sheltering at the encampment at 12 Thames St. have been hand-delivered notices advising them they must move for safety reasons ahead of the project, which will take place between Third and Fifth streets along the northwest riverbank. The construction is expected to begin in fall 2025 and continue through spring 2026. It is partially funded through the federal government's Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund. Municipal officials say they're working closely with community partners, including ROCK Missions, to support the transition of encampment residents and connect them with services. Chatham-Kent says the decision follows its Encampment Protocol adopted in November 2024, which outlines where unhoused individuals may or may not shelter on public land when no alternative shelter options are available. Restrictions include a 100-metre buffer from schools, playgrounds, shelters and other vulnerable-use spaces, as well as a 10-metre setback from private property and a ban on sheltering in public buildings, structures or active parking lots. Services currently available to unhoused individuals include Victoria Park Place, the Transitional Cabins Project — slated to open in August — and the Homeless Response Line. A coordinated response involving police, Housing Services staff and outreach workers is scheduled for Monday, July 14, to assist with the safe removal of tents and property from the site. A contractor will then clean and prepare the location for construction. The municipality says it recognizes the sensitivity of the situation and remains committed to balancing support for vulnerable residents with infrastructure improvements to protect downtown Chatham from future climate-related risks.
CBC
03-07-2025
- General
- CBC
Snapping turtles show up at London man's home for yearly ride to Thames River
A snapping turtle clawing at the front door is not a regular occurrence for most Londoners, but at Alan Graham's house, it happens nearly every year. When one showed up on his porch three days ago, he did what he always does: he set the turtle in his wheelbarrow and ferried it to its destination. Graham lives just off Killarney Road in northeast London. On one side of his house lies the Highbury Wetlands Trail and on the other, the Thames River. Every summer, turtles set out from ponds along the trail, crossing the busy road to make the slow trek down to the river. They must have always taken the same route, Graham said, but growing residential neighbourhoods in the area have become confusing obstacles in their path. So, when they show up on his porch looking lost, he said he wants to help. "The first one this year just looked so dehydrated, it looked like it had been there for hours," he said. "I thought, 'I'm gonna get it to the river as quickly as I can.'" The very first encounter Graham had with one of the snapping turtles was about 15 years ago when he heard a scratching noise at his door. Nervous, but determined, he put on thick gloves, got behind it and safely picked it up. "Every time you go to pick it up it really just snaps, and it's so fast it the whole body shakes," he said. "It's very scary." After years of experience, Graham said he doesn't hesitate. He just grabs the turtle, sets it in his wheelbarrow and tries his best to stay behind it the whole time. Until recently, it seemed to be the same turtle coming back year after year, as it was large and recognizable— two feet long and about 30 pounds. But so far this year, two smaller ones have shown up, instead. Of course, they also got a free ride in Graham's wheelbarrow. "I feel bad that we are kind of imposing on their normal routes and their life," he said. "Other animals too, like deer and wild turkeys and beavers, they're all in the area and they've all had to adjust because of us." Graham likes to share photos and videos of the turtles online and people are always happy that another one has made it there safely, he said, especially as Killarney Road gets busier and busier. Unfortunately, not every traveling turtle makes it across the road, he said, remembering a year when one was hit by a car. He said he would like to see drivers in the area be more vigilant.
