Homeless men and women who have been camping in caravans and tents in a park near Bendigo in northern Victoria have been given their marching orders.
The City of Greater Bendigo has delivered an eviction letter to the homeless community at Huntly Lions Park, notifying them that they have 14 days to pack up and leave.
The eviction relates to the change in reservation status of the park by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning.
"The change in status prevents any future use of the site as a camping ground," the letter states.
Park resident Lee-Anne Gray said she had nowhere to go.
"They backed off very quickly because I started to get upset," she said.
"They don't care — they've got warm houses, they've got inside toilets.
"I've rung ARC Justice in Bendigo and they're getting their legal team onto it as well, so hopefully, we can stop it from going ahead."
Campaign to move campers on
The City of Greater Bendigo wrote to the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) in March to change the status of the land to stop permanent public camping.
The change was published in the Victorian Government Gazette on Thursday, August 25 and is effective from Monday.
The ABC was told by a DELWP spokesperson in July that the council asked the department to change the purpose of the reservation from camping and water supply to recreation.
Ms Gray, who lost her job and then her home, has been living at the Huntly Lions Park since the start of January.
She lives in a caravan that she rents with her son.
Others at the park are living in tents.
"Council just came out and gave us a letter in relation to moving on from here, which is disappointing," Ms Gray said.
She said she was resting her hopes on a community petition calling on the council to change its stance.
"There are locals on our side now," she said.
"There is an online petition to keep us here and there are over 1,000 signatures on it, but they still made the decision and there is nowhere else for us to go, which is sad."
On Monday, the City of Greater Bendigo said it was encouraging residents to use homelessness support organisation Haven, Home, Safe.
Ms Gray says she will meet with the support service on Wednesday.
