Throughout Thursday, bylaw enforcement from the City of Barrie, joined by local police and other supporters are assisting in the clearing of a homeless encampment at Milligan's Pond.
Security personnel positioned at multiple access points to the area, which covers a large swath of land near downtown, are preventing the media and broader public from accessing the property with the threat of a trespass notice. There are also multiple barriers with attached signs that read "NO ADMITTANCE," which have been in place since Tuesday.
Individuals living in the encampment got notice this week that they had until 9 a.m. Thursday to vacate the city-owned property, or they would then considered to be trespassing.
Cleanup efforts began just after 9 a.m., with many members of Barrie Police and City of Barrie bylaw enforcement on hand along with heavy machinery operators to facilitate the cleanup, which is expected to last hours.
Outreach workers can access the encampment, as some members from the Busby Center did around 9:30 a.m. Some outside residents with connections to those within the encampment that are to enter to offer support, as two did in the morning.
It is still unclear how many within the encampment are accepting housing and addictions support, but the City is expected to provide word on Thursday's clearing this week.
The Milligan's Pond encampment is another such site cleared by the City of Barrie since Mayor Alex Nuttall declared a state of emergency in Barrie on September 9 to deal with the issue.
Barrie's general manager of community and corporate services Jeff Schmidt said at a recent executive committee meeting that since the emergency declaration, the number of encampments on city-owned property has decreased from 35 to 15.
"Besides the significant sites, Mulcaster Street, Bradford Street and Victoria Street, the majority of the sites have either been identified as abandoned following investigation, or were locations containing debris that only required cleanup efforts," Schmidt stated.
The mayor said more than 80 per cent of individuals who had been living in encampments are currently receiving housing and support services, which is facilitated by the County of Simcoe.
Both the County and the City's definitions of an encampment differ slightly. The County describes encampments as outdoor structures that are actively being used overnight by two or more individuals experiencing homelessness, while the City considers an encampment to be one tent or structure on a property.
—with files from Ian MacLennan
