She returned only to find everything she had left had been destroyed… but what happened next is now sparking fierce debate across the entire city
A homeless camp has been vandalised, with rough sleepers left devastated after tents and belongings were destroyed and one woman’s possessions allegedly doused in petrol.
The Kippa-Ring camp in Moreton Bay, Queensland, is home to 53-year-old grandmother Debby Lake, who said she was left stunned after returning to find her tents pulled down, possessions scattered and solar panels smashed.
“It’s horrible. I just don’t know what to say. I’m stunned for words, it’s heartbreaking,” Lake told 7NEWS.
Her daughter Crystal Carling said her mum was reduced to tears when she saw the damage.
“I looked at mum and her face was just drenched with tears,” she said.
Homelessness service Nourish Street said people sleeping rough are being increasingly targeted.
“This is not an isolated incident,” organisation’s founder Beau Haywood said.
“We’re being targeted just by having things thrown at our tents, you have people driving past screaming things out at you. I mean this is dehumanising enough, we don’t need people to do that to us,” another homeless resident, who does not want to be identified, said.
The vandalism comes as Moreton Bay Council prepares to trial a dedicated free camping site for rough sleepers at Wyllie Park in Petrie.
The 12-month trial is expected to begin in coming weeks, with CCTV cameras to be installed and the site patrolled by security.
City of Moreton Bay said the trial was an attempt to “do something different”, but stressed it was not a replacement for proper crisis accommodation and supportive housing.
The proposal has drawn criticism from Housing Minister Sam O’Connor.
“It is certainly not best practice and it is not something that we support,” O’Connor said.
But Nourish Street backed the trial as a different approach.
“We do need to think outside the box, I think it’s worth a try,” Haywood said.
“It’s a complete 180 from what they did in the past,” he added, referring to a previous council decision to evict homeless campers from a public park, which was later found to have breached the Human Rights Act.
Despite the safety measures planned for Wyllie Park, Lake says she feels safer in her current encampment.
“I would rather live here and scare myself every night,” she said.
SOURCE: 7 NEWS
https://7news.com.au/news/moreton-bay-homeless-camp-vandalised-as-council-prepares-wyllie-park-free-camping-trial-c-22726523
