More than 20 people housed as council seeks to end encampment

A total of 21 people have been found somewhere to live away from the streets after people started sleeping and spending their days on the side of a busy main road in Canterbury.

That is on top of the tailored help and support given to those who have been living in tents at an encampment in Pin Hill.

Support has included working with a range of organisations, including homelessness charities Catching Lives and Porchlight and the NHS, to provide access to healthcare, dental care and support to help people overcome addiction to alcohol and drugs.

Cllr Pip Hazelton, Cabinet Member for Housing, said: “It has broken everyone’s hearts to see people living in this way in such a dangerous place throughout the winter and officers in teams from across the council have done all they can to rehome people and offer other forms of support.

“Only last week we managed to find emergency bedspace with Porchlight and persuaded someone to take advantage of that opportunity.

“There is no magic wand and we cannot force people to accept our help.

“The challenge all along has been that as soon as we find one person a home, they are replaced by someone equally desperate for help.”

Today (Wednesday 19 March), letters have been posted at the site asking people to move their belongings within seven days.

Cllr Hazelton added: “While we prefer to help people to move on, this situation simply cannot go on and now we need to take legal action to bring this sad situation to an end.

“We have overcome challenges with knowing who owns the land and working our way through the complexities of what legislation and powers we can rely on.

“We are now asking people to remove their tents and belongings within seven days before we the kickstart the legal process that results in enforcement action a little further down the line.”

Published: 19 March 2025