People 'scared' to visit Wakefield due to homelessness issues at hotel as businesses say they face 'ruin'

Cafe, shop and pub owners in the Lower Warrengate area of Wakefield city centre say they have faced “ruin” since the council began using Citilodge as a “dumping ground” for vulnerable people. Those living and working in the area report having to put up with frequent break-ins, thefts, anti-social behaviour and abuse from residents temporarily housed at the hotel.

They also say people are frightened to enter the city centre due to street drinking and people openly taking drugs,

Wakefield Council currently spends more than £1m a year on hotel fees for the homeless as it does not have enough of its own property to accommodate them.

Sarah Padden, owner of Cafe 19, on Lower Warrengate, highlighted the anger and desperation felt by business owners.

She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “The situation is horrendous. That hotel is just being used as a dumping ground and people nearby have to suffer the consequences.

“We have been fighting with the council for years now to get some help but we feel like we are being ignored. Every day we are having to put up with break-ins, anti-social behaviour, abuse, street drinking and people openly taking drugs in the street.

“People are scared to walk into the city centre. People are not using the leisure centre on Sun Lane because they are terrified of walking past those people.”

Ms Padden said she had seen the area deteriorate in the 12 years she has owned the business, saying that some of her customers now take a taxi because they “are scared of walking or using public transport”.

She said: “There are residents down here living in fear. I feel like we are trapped in a vicious circle.

“It is getting to the point now where it is going to take a miracle to get people back into the city centre.”

A council meeting heard in January that the local authority pays £75 per person to stay at the 73-room hotel.

Lynne Hazell, owner of the Gaslight office complex on Lower Warrengate, said her tenants felt intimidated.

She said: “The council’s attitude is that they have a duty to house vulnerable people. But we are trying to invest in Wakefield and make a positive contribution.

“Why should we be de-prioritised? This could actually ruin us.”

Terry John and Nick Howarth run Trad Music and said the business had regularly been targeted. Mr Howarth is on crutches from an incident in November when he was injured as he chased a man who stole a guitar. He said: “People regularly just run in and steal things.”

Mr John added: “People don’t want to come down here any more. Wakefield never used to be as bad as this.”

Katy Inseon, licensee of the Rainbow pub, opposite Citilodge, said: “The problems go on all hours of the day and night. Police will come and take alcohol away from people but they just go around the corner and get more.

“The police are understaffed. We get that. But things have never been as bad in 11 years of me being here.

“Citilodge was part of my revenue before this. Every summer there were people on stag and hen dos staying there.

“The beer garden was full every weekend. During the week the tradesmen were there. Since things have changed that has all stopped.”

Wakefield Council leader Denise Jeffery said police and the local authority are to re-establish an action group to tackle issues at Citilodge. She also said patrols would be increased and mobile CCTV cameras would be deployed in the area.

Coun Jeffery said: “This is absolutely unacceptable. No business or individual in our city should be faced with this appalling criminal and anti-social behaviour.

“Citilodge is not the right place to accommodate our homeless, many of whom have very complex issues. It is not right for them, nor for the city centre.

“But right now, we simply have no other alternative, so until we are able to find a better way to do this, the council and our partners will do all we can to try and improve the situation.”

Coun Jeffery added: “The use of hotels is a last resort but something we are more reliant on than ever now, as the housing market cannot meet the demand, and more and more people find themselves homeless.

“We are working hard to develop local alternatives and we’ve put an extra £400,000 into the budget this year to support this, but there is no quick fix.

“Yet again this is a national crisis, which the Government ignores.”

Wakefield MP Simon Lightwood has arranged a town hall meeting for Friday (March 10) to discuss how to tackle city centre crime.

He said: “People have lost faith that reporting crimes will lead to any action, let alone an arrest.

“Despite the valiant work of hard-working officers, the Government is letting the country down when it comes to policing.”

Inspector Paul Fraser, of Wakefield central neighbourhood policing team, said: “We know that businesses have faced unprecedented challenges in recent years and that this spate of incidents is causing understandable stress and anxiety.

“I would like to reassure business owners that we are taking these issues extremely seriously and have arrested and charged a number of individuals with offences, with several sentenced or awaiting sentence at court.

“We know we can’t just arrest our way out of these issues though and need to prevent these offences from happening in the first place. This is not something that the police can do by ourselves.

“We are working with our partners to take a problem-solving approach that looks at the root causes of offending and anti-social behaviour and what can be done to prevent and deter this kind of behaviour.”