Mayor Jen Alden used her casting vote to break a tie at the council table and block the push.

"I cannot support [this] motion, having thought about it long and hard," she said.

"I understand that people have put a lot of thought into this situation and that there are polarised views in the community."

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The council debated a proposal on Thursday to ask the state government to change the official status of the park to something other than a camping ground.

The council would then have enacted a "comprehensive communications strategy" to make sure everyone knew of the changes and could make new arrangements.

The communication plan would have helped "to limit the reputation risk of having to evict current campers", documents tabled ahead of the council meeting stated.

The Bendigo Advertiser has chosen not to name the location of the camp ground.

The council has been approached by a number of residents complaining about behavior at the site over the past six months.

City officers recommended the council keep working with emergency housing agency Haven; Home, Safe to find more suitable accommodation for campers and make sure the park was well maintained ahead of a review slated for early 2022.

Councillors eventually voted to support that recommendation.

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All councillors who spoke at Thursday's meeting said they had struggled with how to balance the community's concerns against a homelessness crisis exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Councillor Andrea Metcalf said it was not clear why the council should go on with a "business as usual approach".

"It has the feel of a need to be seen to do something without actually doing anything," she said.

"When this issue came to the attention of the ward councillors earlier this year the people talking to us spoke also about their concerns for the welfare of people camping there.

"The conversations had a compassionate lens over them."

But the park was intended, she said, to be an overnight camping site for visitors.

"It has now ceased to be that, given the long term nature of the campers using this site," Cr Metcalf said.

She said neither the site or the council were equipped to provide permanent living space.

"There is a significant amount of regulation attached to that and this council is not going down that path," Cr Metcalf said.

Councillor David Fagg commended local housing providers for the fantastic job they were doing but also worried about the park being used for something it was never intended.

He believed that kickstarting a process to change the campground's classification would provide a "helpful deadline" for efforts to find housing.

Councillor Julie Sloan disagreed, noting that just under 3000 people were waiting for housing in the Loddon Mallee region.

"There are increasing numbers of people ... waiting for housing," she said.

Cr Sloan said even more people were facing housing stress across Bendigo.

Homelessness support workers are currently visiting a camping ground every second day, council staff confirmed ahead of the meeting.

They also revealed that support group Have; Home, Safe has just found more suitable accommodation for one camper at the site.

Cr Alden hoped that the council and all support agencies involved could escalate.

"I'd be very happy to participate in conversations that could achieve that ... however, that's not to say that there aren't efforts underway, and that they would not be ongoing over the next six months," she said.

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