Renegade campers cause for concern for GRCA, city and police

Conservation group says calls rising, many in Cambridge

The City of Cambridge isn’t alone in having to deal with unwanted campers this summer in its parks and along its trails.

Officials at the Grand River Conservation Authority are also wrestling with the same issues on its conservation lands and trails.

“We are seeing issues at the Dumfries Conservation Area, but it’s not our only concern,” said GRCA chair Helen Jowett.

“We have also had increased tent activity in other areas, including Chillago, River Bluffs and along the Cambridge Rail Trail.”

Jowett said GRCA officials are seeing increased tent activity and calls about incidents not only in Cambridge, but also at its urban properties in Guelph and Brantford.

“Although it’s happening everywhere, Cambridge is having a greater extent of tent activity and frequency of incident calls,” she said.

At Dumfries Conservation Area, officials are finding drug debris and isolated campsites in the woods and off the trails where people have pitched camp, sometimes with four- to six-man tents.

With the proximity of the Chaplin Family YMCA and its daycare to the trails running through the Dumfries Conservation Area, it raises the level of concern for the authority, Jowett said.

“Children are the most prevalent (users) of our parks and we need to ensure their safety,” she said.

To combat the problem, the GRCA has its staff monitor all its parks, and are also working with police and the City of Cambridge.

“The GRCA will assess our resources and then co-ordinate staff, police and cleanup needs,” Jowett said.

At the City of Cambridge, Brian Geerts, manager of forests and horticulture, said the municipality “is working closely with officials at the GRCA.”

“We have a good working relationship with the authority,” Geerts said.

“We are monitoring the trails and dealing with things like needle debris and things like that, just as we do on our city trails.”

Jowett said the GRCA has to work closely with its partner municipalities and police because “we don’t currently have specific resources to manage the calls we are getting that are ever increasing in frequency.”