But for Will [not his real name] , 46, it was his home.

And he wouldn't have it any other way.

Will [who didn’t want to be photographed] is among a growing number of people [six alone on Wednesday] who have turned up at the Shoalhaven Homeless Hub looking for help.

All of them homeless, a trend Hub manager Kerri Snowden fears will only get worse in winter.

Will grew up in the Shoalhaven and after “working in the mines out west” for a number of years has returned to “somewhere he considered safe”.

“I had a few issues and a bit of bad luck out there,” he said.

Will was living out of his car, digging for opals near LIghtning Ridge.

He had car troubles, lost his beloved dog, fell ill and couldn’t find a way out but eventually made it back to the coast.

Having grown up in Vincentia, he settled in the Shoalhaven two months ago.

But he’s been living rough - he found shelter in a cave on Ben’s Walk near the Nowra Showground and was happy with his existence until being told he “has to move on”.

In the past week Shoalhaven Police have moved a group of homeless people who were living near the amenities block in Marriott Park in Nowra to the showground.

Will said Shoalhaven City Council rangers have since told them they had to move, with Salt Ministries, one of the driving forces behind Safe Shelter Shoalhaven, relocating many of the group to bushland near Narang Road at Bomaderry.

But once again they have been told by rangers they cannot stay there.

“I just want to be left alone to live my life how I want to live it,” Will said.

Read more: Safe Shelter Shoalhaven plan works

                    Family gives $400,000 to build Nowra shelter

“I don't want to move all over the place. I’m tired, I just needed a rest.”

He says he is “happy” living in the cave as he doesn’t have to “interact with other people” who he says have “often hurt him”.

“It’s frustrating, we get told one thing by one ranger, that we can stay, and another thing by another ranger, that we can’t stay.

“Who do we believe?

“I don't want to move around.

“I live a simple life. I’m not hurting anyone. I prefer not to be around people. I just want to get on with my life.

“There are bigger issues going on in the world than me!”

Will says he is not concerned about the approaching winter and cold.

“I’m preparing,” he said “I have my sleeping bag. If I can cope with 57 degree heat in Lightning Ridge I can manage the cold here.”

He says he has a portable cooker and solar panels and is happy “making do with what he has”.

He uses the Shoalhaven Homeless Hub facilities to shower and wash his clothes.

“This place is a godsend,” he said.

“I never knew this place existed. I don't ask for help. I’m happy and grateful with what the government provides me.

“I just make it work.”

Ms Snowden asked where homeless people in the Shoalhaven were supposed to go.

“They are called an ‘eyesore’ and people get on their high horses but they have to go somewhere - where is the question?

“Again we are coming around to winter and again we are still asking where can these people go?”

The Homeless Hub at 27 Junction Street provides assistance and support with food supplies, toiletries, blankets, washing, cooking as well as putting clients in touch with other services.

The hub is running short of  food, particularly canned food, cereals and biscuits. You can donate to the hub or alternately make a cash donation to the Shoalhaven Homeless Hub GoFundMe page.