Plans for a new base for the RISE homelessness project in Grosvenor Place, creating rooms for up to eight people, have been approved.
The project – which is over two phases- will reconfigure 38-40 Grosvenor Place, Margate to provide the permanent base for RISE, 8 bedrooms with shared kitchen, bathing and laundry facilities, plus office space for RISE staff.
Speaking at a planning meeting this week, council officer Reece Lemon said feedback had been listened to and there would be measures such as CCTV for the alley at the rear of the site and car park opposite; increase of external lighting and a management plan for the site.
He said: “The RISE service, for many, is a vitally important offering in Thanet,”
He added: “The development would provide safe, secure and dignified accommodation for some of our most vulnerable residents.”
Resident concerns
However, resident Sonia Ashdown, speaking on behalf of Grosvenor Place residents, said: “We support RISE and its vital mission to support people who are rough sleeping and in remission.
“But the problem is the location. Grosvenor Place is already under severe strain (with) open drug dealing, theft and fights spilling into public spaces. Vulnerable residents have been attacked and businesses receive poor reviews.”
She said the area had a high crime rate of 535 offences per 1000 residents, adding: “with violence, stabbings and antisocial behaviour topping the list and police being called to the public alleyway directly behind the site. Yet, these issues are brushed aside.”
Ms Ashdown said incidents were under reported and “statistics do not capture the lived reality here.”
She added: “How do people in recovery thrive in an environment saturated with crime and constant triggers for relapse?”
She said having the RISE service in the area risked “compounding harm for both service users and residents.”
She said the group did not oppose RISE but it needed to be in the right place and alternatives had been suggested.
She also revealed that Reform KCC councillor Jamie Henderson, who was in the public gallery, had been attacked in the alley by ‘undesirables’ and had his back broken in two places.
‘Essential’
Cllr Helen Whitehead said: “RISE is an awarding winning service that supports those who are rough sleeping in Thanet and these residents exist regardless of this application…
“Everyone who needs one of these bed spaces is already visibly sleeping rough on our streets with a significant proportion of those already in Margate.
“This proposal addresses the existing crisis in a holistic and inclusive way.”
Cllr Whitehead said 32 people were currently being supported by RISE or in need of rough sleeping support, meaning the service is “essential” and the project was “small in nature, high in support, and in an area where there are already high levels of rough sleeping.”
The RISE building will have two staff members 24/7 and visiting staff. As well as CCTV and the external lighting, there will door and window limiters, to ensure that the premises cannot be unofficially entered or exited through windows.
A Management Plan will include conditions such as a curfew to be in the premises between 11pm and 6am for clients who have a bedspace and searches to ensure against contraband.
‘Impact on community’
This didn’t reassure all members. Cllr Jack Packman said he did not object to the RISE service but added: “We have a bigger responsibility here to look at the generic area and the impact on the community…”
He highlighted issues at the current RISE site in Edgar Road and said he had concerns the management plan was not detailed enough. He noted staff would have personal attack alarms but asked what residents would have and said his key issue was the impact on the community.
Those concerns were echoed by Cllr Marc Rattigan while Cllr Becky Wing asked what safeguards were in place for residents as it would be mixed gender.
Approval
However, Cllr David Green said: “On balance, I don’t think that eight people living here, pre-selected by the RISE team as being suitable for living here, will have a huge impact on the local area. Especially as it will be eight people that have been taken off the streets.”
Councillors agreed to defer to decision to officers for approval subject to safeguarding conditions.
Following the meeting, the Grosvenor Place group said they would like to see higher staffing levels, more information on how residents will be kept informed and how they would submit concerns if necessary.
Thank christ they won’t be on Edgar Road any more! Unfortunately I feel that the massive increase in anti-social behaviour that they’ve brought to the street will still remain for a while. Now the bar has been lowered, it’ll take a while to rise again. Doesn’t help at all that Helen Whitehead firmly refuses to accept that RISE has had any effect on increasing anti-social behaviour at all. Blinkered. How can you make a positive change if you refuse to even accept their’s a problem? Well, not our problem any more! Good luck to you Grosvenor place, you have all this to look forward too!
Yep, sooner the place is gone the better. The behaviour of some of the residents is pretty much beyond comprehension. Council just ignore what goes on , as far as they are concerned the help offered to the residents greatly outweighs the negative effects on the surrounding area.
Pathetic that councillors are deferring the Grosvenor road decision to council officers, they don’t want to be held responsible for their decision making, preferring to be able to lay the blame at the feet of the councils officers when the inevitable compaints roll in.
That the application is totally fiixated on the safety of the staff residents and building , rather than the wider impact on the local community shows a real detachment from some of lifes realities. Must be remembered that the initial 8 will be increased when the flats are developed in the rest of the site at a later date.
Could someone in the council/ rise give a well formed argument as to why the residents are’nt allowed to drink and take drugs on the premises and so relieve the pressure on the immediate area as well as meaning that the council and rise have to deal with inevitable behavioural issues associated withvtheir residents, rather than the current convenient arrangement of ignoring what goes on outside the premises?
This is what happens when you have a Cabinet ideology which says the rights and needs of the homeless trump anyone else in the area.
As others have said, it’s the impact in the local community which is the issue. What about buying up more houses for the homeless next door to all the current Cabinet Members ?
So they are closing Edgar Road imminently but are still only in the planning stage of Grosvenor Place. Where are all these homeless going to reside in the meantime? Did I miss something?