Notorious homeless camp cleared as council sets up clean streets task force – South London News

Two homeless camps were cleared Croydon downtown, while the council reprimands tents on neighborhood streets.

The council also insisted without shelter people are being treated with compassion after residents raised concerns about permits.

The clean-up was carried out by a new task force, which aims to combat illegal dumping and antisocial behavior on the streets of Croydon. The task force will be joined by the council’s new city center co-ordinator, Matt Duncan.

Prior to Mr Duncan’s appointment, the task force had cleared two city center encampments which had attracted particular concern from members of the public.

One of the camps was positioned near the cash desk outside the Coop in Lansdowne Road, just a stone’s throw to the East. Croydon station. The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) understands that residents have previously complained that they felt unsafe when entering the store and trying to access the cash register.

At the other camp, a circle of furniture and detritus had formed behind a car park behind West Croydon railway station. In the weeks leading up to the clean-up, council officers placed a community protection notice on the railings behind the camp.

When asked by a member of the public on the Nextdoor app about how the council task force undertook the cleanup, Mayor Jason Perry pointed to using the notice to justify their actions. He said the notice gave the homeless person a warning that the area would be cleaned up soon and that they should move their belongings if they wanted to keep them.

In response to James Harrison’s question about Nextdoor, Perry commented, “Our approach is always to prioritize support and engagement before enforcement. I was also reassured by Damion Hawthorne from our ASB team who was able to provide support to a person struggling with addiction and debt.”

Announcing the new task force on Tuesday, Croydon council made sure to emphasize that empathy was at the heart of this new initiative. They said: “The task force has already successfully tackled two unauthorized camps.

“As they do this, they sensitively support everyone involved to prevent problems from reoccurring. The task force also recently provided full support to a person who required emergency hospital care during another incident.”

The taskforce involves the council, local businesses, the police, child and youth engagement services, the community, the voluntary and health sectors and support teams for homeless people and rough sleepers.

Community and voluntary groups involved in the taskforce include Croydon Reach, Croydon Voluntary Action and P4YE. They work alongside the council’s youth engagement team and its homelessness and rough sleeping support service – Change Grow Live.

Andy Brittan, Chief Superintendent for South BCU, said: “The Met is committed to ensuring that everyone can enjoy every part of this large and diverse borough. We are already seeing progress by working more closely with the council and key organizations to prevent anti-social behaviour. We have recently increased our police presence in the city center to crack down on people carrying and using knives.”

Anyone who sees anti-social behavior in Croydon can report it to the police anonymously on 101. Concerns about someone sleeping rough can be sent to StreetLink which will connect them with local services.