Bishop’s Park in central Hamilton and some others may soon become a no-go zone for homeless encampments, following a motion from Ward 3 councillor Nrinder Nann.

Her motion, which was approved Wednesday by the general issues committee today, is aiming to address the increasing number of tents in parks and reduce the strain on services for the surrounding community.

“This motion aims to address the intensification of encampments in one area and mitigate the negative impacts on other service access to the surrounding area,” Nann said during Wednesday’s council meeting.

The city’s plan to support the homeless includes opening 192 new shelter beds ahead of winter, most located within Nann’s ward. While Nann emphasized the need to treat the homeless with dignity, she also pointed out the importance of respecting the needs of all local residents.

“There’s been a loss of greenspace to folks for whom Bishop’s Park is the only greenspace in their community,” Nann said. “We have to balance the priority of providing green spaces and public services to residents.”

The proposed encampment ban would prevent tents from being set up in parks within one kilometre of any shelter. The city says it is already enforcing a similar exclusion zone around a planned development of small homes for the homeless in the Barton-Tiffany area.
However, with around 300 people currently living in tents in Hamilton, according to city estimates, there are concerns about where half of them will go when the encampments are dismantled.

“So, 150 individuals would be moving — do we know where they would be moving to?” asked Councillor Brad Clark during the meeting.

Councillor Esther Pauls raised concerns about the possibility of displaced individuals moving to other areas of the city, such as the mountain parks, where smaller encampments are already forming. “If we eliminate these parks, they might move somewhere further where they won’t get help,” Pauls said.

Mayor Andrea Horwath acknowledged the growing crisis, noting that despite the city’s efforts to open more emergency shelter beds each winter, the problem continues to worsen.

“We’ve watched winter after winter as emergency shelter beds have come online, but the crisis has worsened,” Horwath said.

Meanwhile, some of those currently living in encampments express reluctance to move into shelters. One individual residing in a tent at Bishop’s Park said they would not be going to a shelter once it opens, saying it’s too dangerous.

The motion passed today still has to be approved by the full city council.