London First look at London’s updated rules and restrictions for homeless encampments Share Pets on leashes, a fire ban, and an age restriction, are some of the rules unveiled as part of London’s updated strategy for homeless encampments. On Tuesday evening, dozens of people filled a meeting room inside the Earl Nichols Recreation Centre to provide feedback about the city’s proposed update to the Encampment Strategy before it’s officially presented to city council for endorsement. Instead, what city staff heard were frustrated Londoners voicing their concerns about the ongoing homelessness crisis.
“For the past year, I’ve been having to navigate trying to get us housed because we don’t fall under [the city’s] urgent status or high-needs status,” Mel Sheehan shared about her and a roommate’s struggle being precariously housed. Old East Village resident Justin Bardawill called for a renewed sense of urgency, “What’s it going to take for you folks to declare a State of Emergency?” Deputy City Manager of Social and Health Development Kevin Dickins asserted that solutions take time, “We didn’t get into this overnight, and we’re not going to get out of it overnight, but there are many things happening.” The proposed plan for pathways out of encampments and into housing would represent a fundamental shift in how homelessness is addressed in London.
The updated Encampment Strategy unveiled to the public includes restrictions on their locations plus a.
