Posted: 2024-05-14 20:38:10

Single mother Beck Meyers has a place to live, on land she owns, and she is quite comfortable and happy living there.

But her home is a camp-style set-up that doesn't adhere to council regulations, so she, her two primary school-aged children, and her friend Nathaniel Muller, who co-owns the land with her, have been ordered to pack up and leave by the end of the week.

Ms Meyers and her children have been living at the bush block at Campbells Creek, near Castlemaine, since September, when the lease on their rental property ended and they could not afford anywhere else. Mr Muller has lived at the site for longer.

Now, they fear they will end up homeless.

"It's absolutely bureaucracy gone mad," Ms Meyers said.

A woman with curly hair reads a letter, which sitting inside a yurt.

The Mount Alexander Shire Council has given Beck Meyers until Friday to leave the block.(ABC Central Victoria: Emma D'Agostino)

"It's not just camping. We've got big bell tents, we've got dry storage and we've got a functional outdoor kitchen."

They take their waste to a public waste disposal site, and their main water supply is bore water, although they bring in drinking water. They use a mobile solar trailer for electricity.

A caravan with a covered area enclosing a kitchen.

Beck Meyers has a kitchen at her camp and uses a caravan for storage.(Supplied: Beck Meyers)

Ms Meyers believes allowing her family to stay on land they own is a smart solution to the current housing crisis.

"There's nowhere else for us to go, other than a public park or something, or to live in our car," she said.

"It's ridiculous. We could end up just being another family on the streets causing more burden in our community in trying to find housing [when] we would love to stay and make this our home."

A tranquil place

"We love waking up to the birds and hearing the frogs at night," Ms Meyers said.

"And my kids are thriving because previously I was in a rental situation [but] the lease ended, and I was not able to afford anything in the local area [to rent] so we decided to move onto our land.

A woman sitting at the edge of a wooden walkway, surrounded by a stream and facing a shallow swimming hole.

Beck Meyers says her children are thriving at the bush block.(ABC Central Victoria: Emma D'Agostino)

"My kids are happy and less stressed because I'm less stressed about paying the rent."

However, due to a bylaw that prohibits camping on land where there is no existing dwelling, officers from the Mount Alexander Shire Council have told Ms Meyers and Mr Muller they're not allowed to camp on their property and have given them until Friday to leave.

The pair previously applied for a permit to camp on land without a dwelling for six months, which was rejected earlier this month.

A man and his dog sitting outside a tent.

Nathaniel Muller has been living on the bush block for more than a year.(Supplied: Beck Meyers)

According to a Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning Property Report from March 2024, the property is in a designated bushfire-prone area, so "special bushfire construction requirements apply".

The land is also in a farming zone, and is surrounded by the Castlemaine Diggings National Park.

The council says the block has no formal access for emergency services and is very close to a waterway.

An unsealed road running through the bush.

The bush block is accessible via a dirt track.(ABC Central Victoria: Emma D'Agostino)

Council cites block's 'serious' constraints

Mount Alexander Shire Council infrastructure and development director Michael Annear said the council wanted to make sure Ms Meyers, her children, and Mr Muller were protected.

He said council had spoken with the property's owners several times over the years.

"It's not really possible to live on this block at this point in time," Mr Annear said.

"The constraints are really serious and we're concerned for their protection."

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