Unsanctioned tent encampment closes in Cambridge after last residents agree to move
Global News
The encampment, which is located at 150 Main St., had it first tenant arrive last August before it ballooned to having close to 30 residents at one point, according to the region.
After about a year of existence, the Region of Waterloo closed the unsanctioned tent city in the Galt area of Cambridge.
The encampment, which is located at 150 Main St., had it first tenant arrive last August before it ballooned to having close to 30 residents at one point, according to the region.
The numbers fell as low as seven in May when the region opened the hybrid shelter on Erb’s Road in Waterloo.
“There was three left early last week and then the final two took offers of shelter on Thursday afternoon and at that point, we closed the encampment,” commissioner of community service Peter Sweeney told Global News.
A fence has been erected around site of the encampment in the parking lot, which Sweeney says will now remain permanently closed, noting that it was not always a safe place for people to reside.
He said that some of the people moved to the site at Erb’s Road while others have moved to other shelters or transitional housing.
“We also know that some people left on their own accord and I fully acknowledge that some of those people have likely chosen to continue to live unsheltered,” he said.
“We need to turn our attention to getting to a point where that’s actually not something that people feel they need to do.”