Rough sleepers would be provided with free access to Mornington Peninsula foreshore campgrounds under a council proposal, amid a deepening housing crisis in the region.

The council also wants to ditch fines for camping on land that’s not an official campsite.

Chief executive of Southern Peninsula Community Support, Jeremy Maxwell, says the rough sleepers are already camping out on the foreshore.

“At the moment people are doing it illegally in the bushes on the foreshore … and it makes it really hard for anyone to provide support services for them,” he told Tom Elliott.

“Most of the guys we have down here were people’s neighbours just a few months ago.”

Press PLAY below to hear the idea behind the proposal