Police tackle issue of foreigners rough-sleeping on allotments
Thursday, 26th September 2013.
Police are attempting to deal with the problem of people sleeping rough in sheds on the town's allotments.
The issue was raised at a recent public forum of Haverhill Safer Neighbourhood Team and, although it did not receive enough votes to become a priority, police are tackling it anyway.
Haverhill's police chief, Insp Peter Ferrie told a meeting of Haverhill Town Council this week that he had been frustrated that the SNT meeting had not adopted it as a priority because he considered it more serious than parking or speeding.
Police have been checking on the Duddery Hill allotments,where one Portuguese man is known to be living in a shed and they found evidence of several other foreign nationals have been sleeping there.
Insp Ferrie said they had not established yet whether the others actually lived there, or just went there to drink and ended up sleeping there.
The allotments, which are owned by Wisdom Toothbrushes, are not being re-let, and only five proper tenants remain on the whole site.
Sheds which have been constructed by past tenants are being used by the foreigners as accommodation, and some tenants have said they have had their produce stolen.
Cllr Maureen Byrne asked why the situation was still going on when it had been known about for more than three months.
"People working the allotments are very fearful," she said.
Insp Ferrie said police were working with other agencies to try to get anyone sleeping rough re-housed as soon as possible.
He said employers such as Culina were advertising for workers in Eastern Europe, who came over here and then, for one reason or another, lost their jobs and could no longer pay for accommodation.
The simplest solution to the problem would be for Wisdom to have unused sheds demolished, Cllr Byrne said, but this had not happened yet.
The issue was raised at a recent public forum of Haverhill Safer Neighbourhood Team and, although it did not receive enough votes to become a priority, police are tackling it anyway.
Haverhill's police chief, Insp Peter Ferrie told a meeting of Haverhill Town Council this week that he had been frustrated that the SNT meeting had not adopted it as a priority because he considered it more serious than parking or speeding.
Police have been checking on the Duddery Hill allotments,where one Portuguese man is known to be living in a shed and they found evidence of several other foreign nationals have been sleeping there.
Insp Ferrie said they had not established yet whether the others actually lived there, or just went there to drink and ended up sleeping there.
The allotments, which are owned by Wisdom Toothbrushes, are not being re-let, and only five proper tenants remain on the whole site.
Sheds which have been constructed by past tenants are being used by the foreigners as accommodation, and some tenants have said they have had their produce stolen.
Cllr Maureen Byrne asked why the situation was still going on when it had been known about for more than three months.
"People working the allotments are very fearful," she said.
Insp Ferrie said police were working with other agencies to try to get anyone sleeping rough re-housed as soon as possible.
He said employers such as Culina were advertising for workers in Eastern Europe, who came over here and then, for one reason or another, lost their jobs and could no longer pay for accommodation.
The simplest solution to the problem would be for Wisdom to have unused sheds demolished, Cllr Byrne said, but this had not happened yet.
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