No street drinkers in our back yard

PLANS to open a permanent city-centre base for street drinkers in the heart of Liverpool's upmarket Georgian Quarter were attacked today. 

Dr Emlyn Williams, chairman of the Rodney Street Association, said many residents and businesses in the area were against the “totally unrealistic” plan for the centre at 91 Roscoe Street, which backs onto Rodney Street. 

Lytton StracheyThe city council want the REST (Rehabilitation, Education, Support and Treatment) centre to be set up in a former NHS drugs dependency unit, located in a coach house behind 80 Rodney St - once the home of Bloomsbury Set cove Lytton Strachey.

Street drinkers will be allowed to consume alcoholic beverages on the premises to the rear, but at all times will be supervised and helped to change their lifestyles, the council says. 

The aim is to open the centre in the next few weeks, between  noon and 8pm, seven days a week during the summer, but there will be flexibility on opening times depending on the time of the year. 

Dr Williams told Liverpool Confidential: "Frankly it is short-sighted and of course totally unrealistic. 

"Our association recognises that Rodney Street has a long and illustrious involvement with the provision of health and social care – but it objects to this proposal.” 

 The association says other measures should be considered, such as not allowing off-licences to be open at all hours, and also banned from stocking and selling cheap, high-alcohol content beer, cider and fortified wine. 

"In Ipswich, with such a pattern of prohibition applied for more than a year, alcohol related misdemeanours and offending have been dramatically reduced. Centralisation is not the answer.” 

The council says the plan for Roscoe Street follows a successful pilot project in the summer of 2012 in a temporary location in Renshaw Street which identified the need for a permanent facility. 

But Dr Williams said: “Heavy drinking is a major problem in each and every locality and it is noteworthy that following on from  a “wet centre’ pilot in 2012-13, Merseyside Police reported that: 1. few of those in the pilot study were homeless.   2. many lived outside the city boundaries.   3. most came in to the city centre to obtain cheap, high alcohol content drinks and to supplement their income by begging both from Scousers and from an ever increasing number of tourists and visitors."   

The association says Merseyside Police should actively discourage begging and when necessary  seek the support of the courts. 

"It is acknowledged that street drinking is a problem comparable to that presented by an open wound or a running sore, but like them it needs a coordinated and properly evaluated pattern of treatment rather than being hidden behind a sticking plaster," said Dr Williams. 

'Unrealistic': The centre backs onto this house on Rodney Street

A Liverpool City Council spokesman said: "The centre would allow health agencies to engage with street drinkers. It aims to support individuals and work with them, helping them, reduce their alcohol intake. It will also help them access other services such as housing and homeless support." 

Cllr Peter Brennan, mayoral lead for community safety, said: “Street drinkers are quite vulnerable people many of whom lead chaotic and disorganised lives, often because they have extremely difficult backgrounds. But, however harrowing their situation, it is recognised that they can pose a nuisance and can be intimidating to passers-by. 

 “If we just try to continue with the present policy of police enforcement it means that large amounts of police and health services’ time and resources are taken up on this issue and it does nothing to get to the root of the problem. 

“The proposed REST centre –which is in an area where street drinkers already gather - will give them access to health and other agencies who have the expertise over many years to help them turn their lives around. 

“The pilot facility resulted in fewer arrests and admissions to accident and emergency units and demonstrated a need for a more permanent indoor facility in a  location which uses a new approach over street drinkers." 

It is intended that, subject to all necessary consents being in place, the REST centre will be operational from the summer (ie very soon) which, the council says, is the peak time for street drinking. 

The council has held consultations with local residents and businesses and is staging a further public meeting at 6pm tonight (Tuesday, June 3) at the Liverpool Community College in Roscoe Street.