"Not in my back yard"

DRUGS: A BLESSED RELIEF
By Kim Church with substantial advice from Jo Weir, Chair CGCA


For years, the beleaguered residents and businesspeople of the northern third of Covent Garden and St Giles have borne the brunt of a disastrous lack of responsibility in managing the influx of drug addicts; many of whom were dwelling in the Endell Street hostel. Far from providing a conduit by which resident inmates are rehabilitated and returned into society, in the hostel they became institutionalised with little prospect of “moving on”. Some residents have been stranded there for over 10 years as prey to addiction, despair and easy access to the drugs which destroy lives.

While sinister and ruthless dealers get rich at the expense of the wretched addicts (some of whom are destined to die in the ‘care’ of the hostels), the uncontrolled drugs market flourishes. Far from being a safe haven for its charges, allegedly, the Endell Street hostel even harboured a number of dealers amongst the residents who were identified by the police and subsequently arrested and removed.

The result of the police and local government’s failure to address this urgent issue was that the community as a whole was blighted. The hostel made life hell for locals with the menace of drug addicts’ extreme antisocial behaviour: they will stop at nothing to get the next fix, intimidating, aggressive begging had become the norm and shoplifting here is higher than almost anywhere else. The vulnerable smaller shops are targeted and shopkeepers have been powerless to prevent the epidemic as knives have been brandished and physical and verbal threats made. Break ins had also become a major problem alongside the hazard of theft of phones, wallets, handbags and property from cars. This all created a bleak scenario and one which had been resignedly endured by long-suffering locals.

Police Action
However we have had a glimpse of how pleasant our area can be since the Endell Street hostel closed for refurbishment in December. Many of our problems have all-but gone and we are staggered to realise just how much negative impact can stem from a single hostel. We congratulate the police who have, at last, been handed a realistic chance to tackle the lawlessness which had beset our area. Our compliments to Sergeant Iain Petrie and his south Camden Safer Neighbourhoods team who have seized this opportunity to clean up the area. There is still much to be done; this district to the east of Seven Dials has developed such a reputation as a junkie destination that it will take a concentrated effort if we are to eradicate the dealer network and concerted work to stay on top of the problem. Alain Lhermitte, proprietor of Mon Plaisir, who had been forthright in his criticism both of Camden council and its police for their impotence in this area has been quick to add his commendation on the recent success. Alain tells us that “The closure of the Endell Street hostel has cut down the drugs and associated problems by 60%, police action has further reduced this figure and once the promised clean-up of Neal’s Yard is complete we will have a decent situation.”

CGCA
The Covent Garden Community Association is proposing to lobby Camden to oppose the reopening of the Endell Street hostel; in view of the unprecedented reduction of the impact of drugs, crime and aggressive antisocial misbehaviour they will urge them to reconsider the use of this very prominent site and likewise its unsuitability for helping those with addiction. IAACG will lend its support to their campaign and will jointly commission research into the impacts which the hostel has had on our community.

The gist of the initial representation (which the CGCA will send to the Leader, Chief Executive of London Borough of Camden and St Mungo’s Hostels) is as follows:

Drug dealers can and do prevail, and with such a ready market, the possibility of a cure is highly unlikely, since temptation surrounds them on all sides. It is not believed that concentrating addicts in an area in which they can be such easy prey for drug dealers, and where they can reliably get money from questionable practices, is a suitable climate in which to embrace successful, and effective treatment and
rehabilitation.

However, as a former school, it is believed that a better use for this site would be for elderly and infirm residents (many of whom live in sheltered housing opposite this site) to have access to some nursing/rest/care home facilities rather than being subjected to the persistent and frightening menace that the drug dealers and addicts created.

With two other hostels working in Covent Garden it is surely not unreasonable to propose that the reopening of Endell Street is very hard to justify, when such a negative impact has been created within the local community.