The disgusting ten-second video that’s tipped a working class town over the edge after ‘junkies’ set up a skid-row style camp in the main street

Locals in a regional Australian town have been left outraged by a short video which they argue highlights the infuriating extent of the town’s homelessness problem.

Cessnock City Council has been under mounting pressure to remove a makeshift camp, which rests along the town’s main street in full view of shops and commuters. 

Residents of the town in the NSW Hunter Region have taken to calling the site, at HJ Sternbeck Park, a ‘junkie camp’, given reports by those who venture into the vicinity of open-air drug taking and aggressive behaviour.

However, a short video shared recently shared online has been the last straw for many, with hundreds flooding the comments section to complain and the mayor even forced to respond.

The video depicted a man projectile vomiting in broad daylight within the homeless encampment at the park in Cessnock while pedestrians went about their day.

‘Can lounge around in ya camp in the main street all day, doing drugs, drinking alcohol, spewing, pissing and s***-ting in public,’ the video was captioned. ‘What a town we live in.’  

Business owners claimed they had lost business as a result of the encampment, with families choosing to stay away to avoid potential safety risks. 

‘They’ve kicked in our windows, they’ve yelled, they’ve sworn,’ a business owner told NBN News. ‘We’ve had families that refuse to come here now.’

The council has announced occupants have been ordered to clear off by 12pm on Monday.

But this was only after weeks of of pressure and finger-pointing between the council, police and Telstra, the company which owns the land.

‘From Tuesday 28 October, Council will start maintenance works (approved by Telstra) and the entire site will be fenced off indefinitely for safety reasons,’ federal MP for the Hunter Dan Repacholi said on Friday. 

‘There’ll be no public access while this work is carried out. 

‘If the site is still occupied on Tuesday morning, Hunter Valley Police District will assist Council to remove the remaining campers so repairs can proceed safely.’

He added fencing will remain at the site for three months and said he initially offered social, health and housing assistance to the occupants but they refused the offer.

Residents argue the plan to clear the area is too little too late and will only delay or relocate the problem. 

‘Real help would be finding them a place where they can camp safely, without the constant threat of a move-on order,’ one woman wrote.

‘Where will they go? I guess that doesn’t matter as long as they are someone else’s problem,’ another said. 

It followed a series of posts by Cessnock Mayor Daniel Watton, who insisted the council had long been asking police and Telstra to intervene.

‘Firstly, let me say this very clearly – it’s completely unreasonable and unfair to shift all the blame onto council or its staff,’ he wrote on Friday. 

‘They’ve worked tirelessly, over a long period of time, doing absolutely everything they can within the limits of what council is legally able to do.’

He claimed police said they had no authority to issue ‘move on’ orders without evidence of unsafe behaviour at the park. 

Meanwhile, the land owner was difficult to get a hold of, he claimed. 

‘Council has repeatedly contacted Telstra, both in writing and by phone, since the beginning of this issue,’ Mr Watton wrote. 

‘Telstra only responded this week, confirming they had previously made complaints to police in August and September but did not receive a reply.’ 

Locals claim the incident is only the latest to showcase the extent of the area’s homelessness challenge, spurred on by affordability issues and a lack of services. 

Earlier this month, the Daily Mail reported on the efforts of local father Joel Carroll who spent a day clearing piles of trash, including drug refuse, from a local stormwater drain. 

He documented his efforts in a series of posts to social media which drew praise from residents and local representatives. 

‘The level of rubbish was simply ignored for too long and I couldn’t turn a blind eye,’ he told the Daily Mail.

‘I don’t want this to promote negativity towards the homeless, but people should remember to donate through the right channels because a lot of the mess looked like it was donated items that were rifled through and then discarded.’

Cessnock has among the highest level of housing stress in regional NSW, with higher than average unemployment and a vacancy rate below one per cent. 

Median rents in the region have risen more than 30 per cent in the past five years and social housing is heavily oversubscribed.