The City of Melbourne will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars patrolling homeless camps, following a spike in reports of illegally dumped rubbish and abandoned belongings.
The council says it is facing close to $500,000 budget blowout because its local law officers are being routinely tied up patrolling and monitoring camping and litter.
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New homeless strategy for Melbourne CBD
Minister for Housing Martin Foley announces a $9.8-million emergency response package to fund immediate housing for the city's street homeless on Thursday.
In a report to be considered by councillors next week, Alistair Miller, the manager of on-street compliance services, has requested an extra $490,000 over the next 16 months to help deal with the growing problem.
The money would fund four new officers and a vehicle.
"Over the last year in particular, between two and four officers have been diverted on a daily basis from usual proactive patrolling to monitor compliance of camping, built structures, dumped rubbish and abandoned belongings," Mr Miller said.
It is understood there is concern about discarded drug paraphernalia, including used syringes.
Over the past year the council and authorities have been facing mounting pressure to "crack down" on homeless camps in prominent locations.
The council says last year there were 650 "negative media articles … relating to illegally dumped rubbish affecting safety, amenity and accessibility of the city".
"The City of Melbourne tracks media coverage of major issues affecting safety and amenity in the municipality," a council media spokeswoman explained.
Earlier this month councillors voted to pursue a camping ban in the city – but this move has also been highly criticised by legal experts and homeless services who say the proposed law change would, in effect, ban rough sleeping.
The council has already received 316 submissions about the proposal. Fairfax Media sources said most of the submissions opposed the camping ban.
The council is also seeking to introduce fines for people who leave items unattended, and is developing a community campaign to discourage people from donating items directly to homeless people.
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