Wakefield town centre

[cromwell]

Much of the problems affecting town centres are reflected in Wakefield.

but the local authorities between them have conspired to come up with a perfect storm.
A few years ago the local police stations were closed down and relocated to a brand spanking new facility on an out of town industrial estate.
A few years after that Wakefield coucil started housing "vulnerable" people in the city centre Citilodge hotel.

Now, what do we think might happen after you've moved all the police out of town and a load of dossers into it?

This is what happens.
https://www.wakefieldexpress.co.uk/news ... ed-4055383

To be honest, I don't know if this problem is solvable. The council has a duty to try and house the homeless. Knowing that the council has to home them (if they haven't made themselves intentionally homeless) has not been an encouragement to turn their lives around. So the problem just gets bigger.

The reaction of the council leader, a lady who looks well preserved (like Tutenkhamen's mum) is priceless. "This is unacceptable" - like it's nothing to do with her. It's how she always reacts.

I just feel for the business owners affected by the crimes being committed. They are the real vulnerable people here.

[TheOstrich]

I'm sure I've seen references in the national media to problems in Wakey, Crommers, and it's not on, especially for those businesses whose livelihoods depend on getting a decent footfall.

Perhaps those traders should group together and organise a business rates strike to concentrate the Council's mind on finding a more acceptable solution. I appreciate the Council "have a duty" but unless you start pressurising them, nothing will get done.

[Workingman]

There are many types of homeless and they all need treating differently.

Families who could not afford rents etc. and have been evicted are vastly different from dossers, drunks and druggies, yet councils do not seem to be able to dfferentiate.

The former might be suitable for "hotels" for a while, many of the others would be happy for somewhere warm and dry for a night. Maybe.

There was a piece on the news the other night where members of the latter groups were hoping for a bed in a former light industrial unit - a sort of Nightingale hostel. Bristol, I think.

[Suff]

A couple of weeks ago I was hearing about the NHS situation. There are fixed services which "must" be provided. There is a "fixed" sum of money which does not cover the "fixed" services.

So what happens then? So Wakey council is moving the police out so they can cut their rent bills and make ends meet. Of course they are having to do this because they are paying so much to house "vulnerable" people who the government says they "must" house.

The council would have been better off putting the "vulnerable" out where they put the police and investing the rest of the money in police facilities in the city.

But councillors do not get the job because they can make good investment and management decisions. They get the job because they can talk.

It's insoluble. Just like the NHS. Until reality intrudes again nothing can be done.

[Workingman]

The council did not push the police out. it was a police decision.

But councillors do not get the job because they can make good investment and management decisions. They get the job because they can talk.

Ah, now there's a thing. Many councillors have been in post for so long that they have become chums with the council. Mine has over 22 years of unbroken "service". They no longer serve the voters, they are part and parcel of the council process. Rather than questioning the council, as they should on our behalf, they just sign off their proposals, no questions asked. Job done - money in the bank..