Rough Sleepers
Rough Sleepers
Has anyone else noticed that there seems to be a group of people living in the shelter by the bowls club hedge in Alexandria Recreation Ground?
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Cllr John Getgood
- Posts: 34
- Joined: 8 Jan 2009 11:30
- Location: Sydenham
Bromley Council have been informed. I htink the the encampment in the bushes had been destroyed. They still occasionally sleep in the shelter of the old pavilion. I also see them in Sydenham High Street. They ahave previously been moved on but of course that achieves nothing unless treatment or alternative provision is found. My information is that they have been difficult to help.
Because I can't think of any byelaws - or statute laws for that matter - that make "sleeping rough" illegal.Sydenham wrote:To Bensonby - please go on and explain why "you don't think so". Don't leave us lurkers hanging. I'm interested.
James.
There is the vagrancy act 1824 which makes begging in a street illegal (section 3) and there is the licensing act 1872 which makes being drunk in the street illegal (section 9) but as for merely "sleeping" I can't think of any...
As for byelaws, (as it is in a park) then I can only think of it being illegal if they erect a tent or simlar...(Bromley Parks Byelaws no.9)
If being drunk on the street is illegal how come it seems to always take place outside of the old 7-11 without them being told to stop by the police?
Every time I go past the same group of people are sitting on buckets with their cans of lager.
What sickens me is that one of them is a lady(very loose term for her) and is heavily pregnant.
I have also seen her drinking on various walls and benches around the kirkdale area without a care in the world for her poor, unfortunate unborn child.
I hope to God that she does get done by the police and social services intervene.
Every time I go past the same group of people are sitting on buckets with their cans of lager.
What sickens me is that one of them is a lady(very loose term for her) and is heavily pregnant.
I have also seen her drinking on various walls and benches around the kirkdale area without a care in the world for her poor, unfortunate unborn child.
I hope to God that she does get done by the police and social services intervene.
Drinking in public isn't illegal - being drunk is.Ruby wrote:If being drunk on the street is illegal how come it seems to always take place outside of the old 7-11 without them being told to stop by the police?
More to the point, is it worth the police arresting every, most, or any drunk they see out and about? What would it achieve? And what harm are they generally doing?
Would you rather the police were in custody suites (or more likely, on hospital guards) with drunks....or would you rather they were responding to robberies, assaults, rapes, burglaries and so on.....
Or would you rather have a massive tax increase so they can do both?
yes, you have a point. However, generally, police won't arrest someone who is drunk in the street unless they are a real danger to themselves.....(e.g. staggering in the middle of the road &c.) hence the law is usually referred to as "drunk and incapable".Sydenham wrote:It's not one or the other - a balance is usually best. What I prefer is that the balance is determined with some input from local people, rather than it being solely the choice of the police. Easier said than done though.
James.
Of course, if someone is drunk and committing other offences - then they can (and will) be nicked for those...
I fail to see how "input from the local people" has much bearing on the matter....however, "ward panels" can, and do, set priorities for SNTs.
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bigbadwolf
- Posts: 726
- Joined: 7 Jan 2008 21:21
- Location: Forest Hill and Sydenham
Ruby wrote:If being drunk on the street is illegal how come it seems to always take place outside of the old 7-11 without them being told to stop by the police?
Every time I go past the same group of people are sitting on buckets with their cans of lager.
What sickens me is that one of them is a lady(very loose term for her) and is heavily pregnant.
I have also seen her drinking on various walls and benches around the kirkdale area without a care in the world for her poor, unfortunate unborn child.
I hope to God that she does get done by the police and social services intervene.
I think I know the woman you're talking about Ruby. I live off Dartmouth rd in Forest hill and she sits and gets drunk in the small park.
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Some people eh...
careful Lambchops! You'll get the NIMBY brigade telling us how rough sleepers and street drinkers are trouble in themselves through their very existence...lambchops wrote:cos then another colonial settlement would beat you at sport!
i've got no problem with people sleeping on the street or in parks, but i do have a problem when they cause trouble.
are the people in the shelter causing any hassles?
Do you not have a problem with pregnant female's drinking to excess. I thought that was the matter of discussion.
Also the park , or recreation ground , is presumably paid for and kept by taxes of locals to Bromley Council. They probably would not appreciate rough sleepers.
Would you like them in your garden???
Also the park , or recreation ground , is presumably paid for and kept by taxes of locals to Bromley Council. They probably would not appreciate rough sleepers.
Would you like them in your garden???
There is a more general theme of general moralising outrage that is pervasive on here that I'm having a poke at.Eagle wrote:Do you not have a problem with pregnant female's drinking to excess. I thought that was the matter of discussion.
The park is a public place and has an implied permission for everyone to use it....Also the park , or recreation ground , is presumably paid for and kept by taxes of locals to Bromley Council. They probably would not appreciate rough sleepers.
No, but it's my property and I'll let in whoever I want and eject anyone I don't want in my garden...Would you like them in your garden???