The old location for Chatham's main encampment will remain tentless.
Several people living in tents on Thames Street, between the Third Street and Fifth Street Bridges, were forced to move in July 2025 as the municipality began work on its Thames River Slope Stabilization project.
Most of the people who were displaced ended up moving next to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) property on Grand Avenue East, which remains the biggest encampment across Chatham-Kent.
After more than a year, the slope stabilization project officially wrapped up, with the municipality holding a ceremony earlier this week to recognize the finished product.
This led some to wonder if people living on the streets may try to move back to the area. Even if they wanted to, the municipality says it's no longer a suitable location after CK's council created a new bylaw restricting where tents can be set up.
Previously, a person could set up a tent on public land as long as there wasn't enough shelter for people to stay overnight. Chatham met, and continues to meet, this criteria as it replaced its overnight shelter with 50 transition cabins.
The new bylaw ensures that all tents must be at least 25 metres away from a home or business.
The list of spots a person can set up a tent in Chatham is quite short. This is why many continue to live next to the (PUC) property. CK's council originally discussed making the distance 100 metres, but this would have left zero viable locations in Chatham.
Renee Geniole, the executive director of Reach Out Chatham-Kent, told CK News Today that there have been talks of returning people to the Thames Street location.
She explained that they've only helped people move on a large scale once, that being the original move to Grand Avenue East, as the municipality needed them to move for the slope project.
