A council-led crackdown began this week, with five camps along Bourke and Swanston streets cleaned up.

Cr Doyle said he was frustrated that people continued to give homeless people items such as garden chairs, doonas and tents.

"That is not a pathway out of homelessness and in fact what happens is the homeless just leave them sitting there and walk away from them," he said.

"So we collected five or six encampments yesterday that were just abandoned bedding. For our compliance officers this is difficult work.

"They have to be careful of discarded needles and often they find human faeces or the bedding has been urinated in."

It comes as rough sleepers struggled with the hot weather and reduced services over the Christmas period, with reports of some people suffering insect bites, sunburn and increased mental health problems.

Youth Projects chair Melanie Raymond said one man tried to take his own life after Christmas by pulling out his colostomy bag and cutting the wound in order that it would become infected, before being found by outreach nurses.

Ms Raymond said she was concerned about the impact the camp clean-ups would have on vulnerable people sleeping rough.

"We have people say 'if they are just going to take my stuff and put it in the bin, I may well as go and kill myself'. That is an oft-repeated remarked.

"We had someone lose all their belongings and even the Christmas presents he bought for his kids because he went to the toilet.

"We had to replace his V/line tickets, his Christmas presents and clothing at Christmas Eve so he could present to his family in Seymour."

But Cr Doyle said the clean-up should not result in all homeless camps or rough sleepers being moved out of the city, and workers would not be confiscating people's possessions.

"If we come across a lot of material there we will sometimes take some of it away. We don't take anything that can be classified as personal."

He said also the council would not be seeking any new powers to move people sleeping rough away from the CBD.

"It's not a crime to be homeless," Cr Doyle said.

In response to the persistent street homelessness problem in Melbourne, new outreach support teams funded by the council to the tune of $350,000 will start operating in February or March. The council has also put aside another $300,000 to fund a night time safe space, plus $1.2 million for homeless housing providers (the money could possibly fund rental houses).

Salvation Army Major Brendan Nottle said many of the homeless people in camps needed a range of support services, including mental health and treatment for drug addiction.

"They don't just need a bed. That's not going to cut it," he said.

Mr Nottle said homeless camps that had already been moved included one set up in Elizabeth Street about a week before Christmas.

Another encampment on Bourke Street was also taken down a few weeks ago, he said.

Allan, left, at his camp on Flinders Street with Pete. Photo: Eddie Jim

Alan is one of the people camped alongside Flinders Street Station. He has lived on Melbourne's streets on and off for around 14 years.

He said he felt "persecuted" by the council. "They have been moving us on and it's always at three o'clock in the morning when its raining and they know we'll be under shelter," Alan said.

"I can always remember there were people on the streets, even when I was a child."

VincentCare Victoria chief executive John Blewonski​ said he supported removing camps if homeless people were linked to support agencies. Mr Blewonski said the community was compassionate about homelessness but wanted problems including public drug use tackled.

"People do have strong empathy but they also want safe streets," he said.

But he said support services needed to gain the trust of homeless people so they did not return to the streets.

"It needs to be a gradual trust relationship."

Council to Homeless Persons chief executive Jenny Smith said people were sleeping rough because there was not enough housing for those on low incomes.

"There aren't places for them to go and moving people out of our way is not a solution," she said.