Moreton Bay's Homeless Campground Trial Sparks State Govt Clash

Moreton Bay Council has unanimously approved a controversial 12-month trial of a managed campground for people sleeping rough, setting the stage for a potential showdown with the Queensland Government over housing policy and land use powers.

The free campground at Wyllie Park in Petrie would create 60 designated sites with mandatory registration, conditions of use and basic oversight. The park already has toilets and rubbish facilities, and Council plans to install additional cameras and security patrols before opening the expanded site. It will accommodate tents and a limited number of caravans or camper trailers, and will technically be open to anyone — not solely people experiencing homelessness.

Mayor Peter Flannery has framed the trial as a pragmatic response to a problem that is already happening. Council logged nearly 4,000 complaints in the last financial year about people living in parks and public spaces. Rather than continuing to shift people between locations, the campground concentrates that activity in one managed site. Councillor Jim Maloney pointed to Queensland Government data showing the number of Moreton Bay residents on the Social Housing Register at risk of or experiencing homelessness nearly doubled — from 1,641 in June 2023 to 3,147 by March this year.

Housing Minister Sam O'Connor fired back, saying his office first learned of the plan through a Council media release. Had the State been consulted, he said, it would have raised serious concerns. His central objection is the mixing of people with complex and often incompatible needs in one location — including those experiencing mental illness, addiction, domestic violence, recent release from prison or acute physical health problems. The Minister described the allocation of a single ranger to manage the site as completely inadequate and has formally asked Council to explain its management approach. He has not, however, moved to block the trial.

Whether the State could intervene is legally uncertain. Council's own report flags a risk that the Department of Resources or the responsible minister could challenge its authority to manage the site through a land management plan. Natural Resources Minister Dale Last has declined to say whether the Government intends to act.

Homelessness organisations are split on the merits. Encircle Community Services welcomed the greater stability the campground could offer near existing support services. Q Shelter cautioned that concentrating vulnerable people without adequate services and safeguards risks creating serious problems. Nourish Street founder Beau Haywood shared similar concerns, warning against mixing families, older people, vulnerable women and people experiencing mental illness or addiction — and insisting the arrangement must stay genuinely voluntary rather than become a de facto holding area.

Those concerns carry extra weight given recent legal history. In March, the Queensland Supreme Court found Council had violated the human rights of homeless campers evicted from public parks, including by failing to give adequate notice and disposing of their belongings without consent. Wyllie Park takes a different approach by designating a lawful place to stay, but the State's claim it was not consulted raises questions about how much of the promised agency support had actually been secured before the vote was taken.

The trial's operating costs remain unquantified, and the State has not committed to the support services Council is counting on. A managed campground may be safer and more dignified than park enforcement cycles, but it remains a temporary measure in the absence of adequate crisis accommodation and permanent housing supply.