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| Protest over needle swap centre
in loo |
Aim is to cut street drug debris
A DRUG needle exchange is due to open in a public lavatory, sparking
fears that it will become a magnet for trouble.
Camden Council and Camden Primary Care Trust (CPCT) plan to open
the centre in a disused toilet in the subway below Centre Point
building in Tottenham Court Road, Bloomsbury.
The proposal has stirred one of the biggest protests the area has
seen, with residents’ associations across Bloomsbury, Covent
Garden and Soho joining forces to fight the plan.
A fractious public meeting on Tuesday night at Freemasons Hall in
Great Queen Street, Holborn, revealed splits in the community and
saw Conservative councillors from Westminster questioning the choice
of site for the needle exchange.
Tory councillor Alexander Nicoll said Camden had not done enough
research, adding: “It would be better placed near an NHS centre
where drug users could use other services.”
Labour councillors in Camden are due to go head-to-head with objectors
again on Wednesday night when the final details of the plan go to
an open-to-all cabinet meeting.
Camden is the only borough in London not to have a fixed needle
exchange service, although it does have a roving van service.
Dr Rob Larkman, the CPCT’s chief executive, said yesterday
(Wednesday): “This will be a well-managed service. We see it
as a treatment gateway to services for users.
“The site is not near residential areas. It should reduce the
number of dirty, discarded needles in the street and the spread
of HIV and hepatitis B and C between drug users.”
Town Hall crime czar Anthony Brooks, a former police chief, added:
“We will be able to contain the service. It will be a secure
unit. There will be CCTV, and street wardens will patrol the surrounding
streets.”
But Jim Murray, from Bloomsbury Association, said the area had been
scarred by drug use.
He added “This has become the single most important factor
in the degradation of our quality of life.
“We can show documentary evidence of very large numbers of
used needle finds over the last three years, and over 900 anti-social
behaviour incident reports, of which over 95 per cent are drug related,
over the past nine months in Bloomsbury.”
He added: “Tens of millions of pounds are being invested in
redeveloping St Giles High Street in the near future. This proposal
is an affront to everyone who has tried to help improve community
safety in the area.” |
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