Full circle as Walmgate becomes a slum again
One hundred years ago Walmgate was a slum. It was an overcrowded, filthy, diseased version of Gin Lane. Then, over the 20th century, the area was cleared and new housing built. Businesses started to flourish and the area became a nice place to live within the city walls. Now, wholly due to City Of York Council’s appalling disregard for the law-abiding residents of the area, Walmgate is fast on its way to going full circle and becoming a slum once again.
It all started when York Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (YACRO) was, without resident consultation, thrust on Walmgate in the 1990’s. This started the domino effect of disaster for the area. Instantly there was an increase in crime. Street drinking, drug dealing, theft, car crime, vandalism and late night disturbances became the norm as the tracksuited masses gathered outside the One-Stop (which now only sells strong cider) and intimidated the locals as they went about their business. It can be no co-incidence that the terminal decline of York’s once finest pub, The Spreadeagle, began shortly after YACRO’s arrival. 
I have lost count of the number of times I have complained about anti-social behaviour in the area. Yet nothing is ever done. Last night I overheard a youth on a moped discussing a drug deal he was about to complete. I have a scumbag living in my own block of flats. (I would elaborate further but there is currently a process going on to evict him and I would hate to jeapordise it). Two Saturdays ago I found a man sitting outside my flat smoking heroin out of tin foil. Most mornings there is evidence of car crime on the roads near my home. Youths constantly gather and cause a nuisance. Last Wednesday lunchtime two men were openly smoking cannabis on the steps to Medway House. Street drinking is rife, despite it being a no-drinking zone? Not forgetting, of course, last year’s bonfire night teenage rampage which, unsurprisingly, resulted in zero arrests and a burnt out flat.
So what do the long suffering residents get to make up for all this disturbance and reduced quality of life?
Well surprise surprise! Nobody could have imagined that approval would be given for moving Crime Reduction Initiatives (CRI), otherwise known as a drop-in centre for smackheads and other scumbags, away from its current home in “nice” Peckitt Street to “dirty” Walmgate, a street already awash with a multitude of lowlives and wasters. Of course, I’m sure the approval of the move has nothing to do with the fact that whilst the centre is on Peckitt Street there is a distinct possibility that tourists viewing Clifford’s Tower or taking a riverside walk along the Ouse may be inadvertently pricked by a discarded syringe or subjected to begging and abuse.
The final insult comes with the relocation of the Peasholme Centre for the homeless to Fishergate (so that Galloway et al don’t have to see these people out of their new office windows) from it’s current, perfectly fine location on Peasholme Green. The only people round here who will be happy will be the management of the Postern Gate Wetherspoons on giro day!
Have any of you got any idea how much provision there is for the homeless/drug addicts/street drinkers/offenders in York? You’d be surprised. As well as Peasholme and the new “Homeless Hilton” (AKA Arclight), there is the Melbourne Project and Orwin House (alcohol), Ordnance Lane, Crombie House and Howe Hill (single mothers and the lazy unemployed) and plenty of other hostels and freebies funded by taxpayers. What is there for the rest of us? What about the elderly? That will be charities like Help The Aged and Age Concern that rely on generosity from the public.
I am utterly sick of seeing York become a magnet for every scrounging scrote in Britain. I once read that, in Britain, you have a 1 in 10 chance of standing in dog dirt in the street every time you go out. In York you have a 1 in 5 chance of seeing a beggar or a street drinker instead. As usual I am going to be accused of being “uncaring” and “insensitive”. Well I don’t care! I thought we, as a nation, were getting away from the idea of a Welfare State and moving, inevitably, to a Competition State where self help rather than state support was encouraged.
If we are then there’s little evidence of it in York, especially Walmgate!
See you soon…
April 30th, 2008 at 07:35 pm
I think if I found someone smoking heroin on my doorstep I’d be livid. It actually makes me feel sick to think of it.
York has always had this druggy problem. It was there when I lived there and certainly when my Mum used to work for the NHS, her dept. used to find all the druggies new GPs as they got through them rather quickly.
It’s been going on for years, and as no one has done anything to tackle the root cause, you can only assume that word spreads fast - if all the undesirables are from outside the city, it’s obviously considered that drugs are completely acceptable in York. I can’t understand how such a small city has such a horrible problem otherwise. It bothers me greatly.
It’ll take a few tourists to be affected in some horrific way and a bit of tabloid coverage to turn the tides no doubt..I imagine that only when the tourists stop coming will the authorities take the proper stance that is needed and that is disgusting.
April 30th, 2008 at 08:30 pm
It’s funny how you are always getting slagged off by the “elitist” leftys on the Press site. Now they’ve started telling lies and are saying that this is a BNP recruitment website. What a set of pr*cks.
April 30th, 2008 at 08:35 pm
It says in that story on The Press site about drinking in Strensall that drinking in the street is banned on Walmgate? I see the dossers drinking strong lager outside the shops nearly every day. What are the coppers doing sbout it?
April 30th, 2008 at 08:39 pm
Of course you are spot on Birdy. I can see two of them walking across Albert Street right at this moment with a can of Lynx each. I should call the police shouldn’t I?
But what’s the point?
Why on earth have bye-laws if they aren’t going to be enforced? More spin and gesture politics that have no influence on solving these problems.
Stocks and gallows please!
April 30th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
“Home Office website - Tackling begging
Some members of the public give to people begging in the belief that they are homeless. The reality is that the majority of beggars are not homeless: money is often used to sustain a drug habit and does nothing to help people rebuild their lives. Many other people are intimidated by the presence of beggars and feel unsafe.
It is important to adopt an approach that ensures local agencies take action to tackle begging, by using the full range of enforcement powers available, backed-up by access to drug treatment.
An arrest can provide an opportunity for an individual to engage with the arrest referral scheme and voluntarily accept a referral to appropriate treatment. All custody suites across the country now have voluntary arrest referral schemes that offer opportunities to access effective treatment and support.
Powers for tackling begging:
* Vagrancy Act 1824 (section 3). Enables the arrest of anybody who is begging. It is a recordable offence and carries a level 3 fine (currently £1,000);
* Highways Act 1980 (section 137). If a person willfully obstructs the free passage along a highway they are guilty of an offence. This carries a level 2 fine (currently £00);
* Public Order Act 1986 (section 5). Causing harassment, alarm or distress. This carries a level 3 fine (£1000) or a penalty notice of £80.
Community sentences can currently be imposed when the court considers that the offence is serious enough to warrant that penalty.
Under the Criminal Justice Act 2003, the courts will be able to issue community sentences, rather than fines, for those convicted a fourth time for an offence. This may include community penalties for drug, alcohol and mental health treatment. These powers are scheduled to come into force in late 2004.
In some cases it may be appropriate to use other civil measures, including injunctions under section 222 of the Local Government Act 1972 and anti-social behaviour orders.”
All we need in York is a proper police force to enforce the law, and a zero tolerance policy will work wonders I promise.
May 2nd, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Did you know that at one point in Walmgate’s past, it had 57 Public House’s open at the same time.