Rough sleepers congregating under south Brisbane bridges could be forcibly removed by the end of the week if they remained in place, Brisbane City Council has decided following complaints by residents.
A council spokesman said it had received 12 complaints since August about the vagrants, who had been camping out underneath the Go Between and Kurilpa bridges.
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Homeless 'can't be in groups'
Homeless people living under bridges in South Brisbane are ordered to move on after complaints about poor behaviour.
"(On Monday) morning there were six people observed on the Go Between Bridge site and two near the Kurilpa Bridge, which is a significant reduction during the past week," he said.
"The complaints are about the group's anti-social behaviour."
The spokesman said local police had been notified of what could constitute criminal behaviour.
"Council is working with the State Department of Housing and Micah Projects Inc to find emergency boarding house accommodation and further offers of accommodation will be made this week," he said.
"Council has heard there are some individuals who have refused the offer of accommodation and if this continues council will take more direct action to remove what has become an unsightly encampment."
One resident told Fairfax Media some of the rough sleepers had been abusive to passers-by.
"These homeless people have been camped under both bridges for up to a month," he said.
"They have made makeshift shelters and even erected tents.
"Some of them verbally abuse passing pedestrians, cyclists and anyone else that happens to walk by.
"They are also drinking in public and throwing rubbish along the banks of the river and using these areas as toilets."
The resident said he had observed one woman being harassed in the afternoon, just metres from where French student Sophie Collombet was murdered in 2014.
"All the while, council and police drive by and do not seem to move them on and additionally private welfare agencies seem to pay them visits from time to time but nothing changes," he said.
Comment was sought from local Greens councillor Jonathan Sri, who has been a long-time advocate for affordable housing.
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