Community Safety Concerns in Cascade Gardens
The issue
Cascade Gardens is located in the heart of a residential area on the Gold Coast, surrounded by hundreds of homes.
For more than four years, residents and park users have been dealing with ongoing illegal camping and squatters affected by drugs or experiencing serious mental health issues.
Residents have reported violence, physical altercations, verbal abuse, public sexual activity, urinating and defecating in the surrounding bushland, discarded needles in the park, and large amounts of rubbish left behind when camps are abandoned.
Despite repeated reports to Council by residents, some of the squatters had been living in the bushland for over two years.
The process of removing the squatters and the clean-up of the rubbish has taken over six months. Click here to see some of the rubbish that has been removed from Cascade Gardens.
Now, after finally getting the situation under control, we are seeing people again setting up tents and sleeping in vehicles.
Again, despite ongoing reporting of illegal camping to Council, it is taking months before these people are moved on. By the time one tent or vehicle is dealt with, others have arrived.
We do not want the situation escalating and getting to the point that it reached previously.
We request Gold Coast Council to:
- Commence action when illegal camping is first reported. Currently, it is taking up to six weeks for Council to act on reports.
- Increase patrols and monitoring of Cascade Gardens. The current level of monitoring is not enough if residents still have to continually identify and report illegal campers.
- Issue fines for illegal camping in vehicles. The current approach of educating people about illegal camping does not appear to be effective. People simply move to another location. Issuing fines is the answer.
- Install Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras to identify vehicles repeatedly using the car park and issue fines.
Help us protect Cascade Gardens. Please sign and share this petition. We ALL have a right to feel safe and enjoy the park.
909
The issue
Cascade Gardens is located in the heart of a residential area on the Gold Coast, surrounded by hundreds of homes.
For more than four years, residents and park users have been dealing with ongoing illegal camping and squatters affected by drugs or experiencing serious mental health issues.
Residents have reported violence, physical altercations, verbal abuse, public sexual activity, urinating and defecating in the surrounding bushland, discarded needles in the park, and large amounts of rubbish left behind when camps are abandoned.
Despite repeated reports to Council by residents, some of the squatters had been living in the bushland for over two years.
The process of removing the squatters and the clean-up of the rubbish has taken over six months. Click here to see some of the rubbish that has been removed from Cascade Gardens.
Now, after finally getting the situation under control, we are seeing people again setting up tents and sleeping in vehicles.
Again, despite ongoing reporting of illegal camping to Council, it is taking months before these people are moved on. By the time one tent or vehicle is dealt with, others have arrived.
We do not want the situation escalating and getting to the point that it reached previously.
We request Gold Coast Council to:
- Commence action when illegal camping is first reported. Currently, it is taking up to six weeks for Council to act on reports.
- Increase patrols and monitoring of Cascade Gardens. The current level of monitoring is not enough if residents still have to continually identify and report illegal campers.
- Issue fines for illegal camping in vehicles. The current approach of educating people about illegal camping does not appear to be effective. People simply move to another location. Issuing fines is the answer.
- Install Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras to identify vehicles repeatedly using the car park and issue fines.
Help us protect Cascade Gardens. Please sign and share this petition. We ALL have a right to feel safe and enjoy the park.
The Decision Makers
Supporter Voices
Petition Updates
Share this petition
Petition created on 29 December 2025