Drugs centre ‘shambles’ sparks anger at meeting

COUNCIL and NHS bosses were on the receiving end of a rollicking at a public meeting after they admitted making mistakes over plans to open a new needle exchange and clinic for drug users.
More than 100 people were at Millman Street Community Rooms in King’s Cross on Monday night to vent their frustrations over the proposals.
Throughout the process the council and NHS Camden – jointly driving the scheme – have refused to consult residents on where the centre would be. It is only known that it will be somewhere in the south of the borough.
Lib Dem councillor James King, who was repeatedly heckled from the floor, said: “We have learned lessons from this. When we have a location we will have another public meeting like this one.”
The plan is to bring south Camden’s drug services together with a needle exchange under one roof in a treatment centre helping dozens of addicts every day. Health bosses claim more than 2,000 need treatment in the area but are not currently getting access to drug services.
While some of the residents and business groups represented at the meeting agree Camden’s chronic drug problems require action in a centralised centre of this kind, all opposed the stubborn refusal to have a straight debate over where it will be.
Objectors say the centre, which they believe will attract drug dealers and increase crime, should not to be located near primary schools or in quiet residential streets.
The New Journal revealed a list of eight proposed locations in September, including 14 Roger Street, near two primary schools in Holborn and Covent Garden ward. One of them, St George the Martyr parent Sarah Payne said: “Very few parents knew about this application. The majority had it brought to their attention by the teachers. It is a very bad way to behave.”
Audrey Gandy, chairman of Langdon House Tenants and Residents Association, added: “I never heard of this until the Roger Street application went in. Call this a consultation? I don’t think the council knows what the word means.”
The charity Crime Reduction Initiatives (CRI) applied to open the centre on Roger Street but withdrew its planning application after more than 200 objections were lodged with the Town Hall.
Rebecca Harrington of NHS Camden told the meeting: “It’s fair to say none of the proposed locations were suitable. We have stepped back.”
Labour MP for Holborn and St Pancras Frank Dobson called for the council to reconsider its strategic decision to set up a centralised drug services, adding: “If there was a blueprint for a shambles, this would be it.”
TOM FOOT