The chess table which was on Turbo Island has been removed under pressure from the Police and from some residents, but certainly not all… The existence of the table on Turbo Island acted as a focal point for street drinkers, as Turbo Island has always done…
The table highlighted a problem central to all those who know and love Stokes Croft… There is always a hardcore of drinkers in the Croft… who congregate here, because all the services are local. we believe it to be obvious that if we wish to curb street drinking , and help people with this illness, then we must have provision in the form of a wet centre, where drinkers can go and drink legally, and get help at the same time. It is no longer acceptable simply to move them on… Check out footage of our walk to Riverside Park… One suggestion from the powers that be… http://www.youtube.com/user/PRSCdotORGdotUK
The street drinkers have simply found other places to sit…
The effect of attempting to stop people sitting around in Stokes Croft has an extremely negative effect on our public spaces…
See below, the bottom of Stokes Croft…
On City Road, near the wild Goose…
It is time for more enlightened thinking…
What sort of enlightened thinking do you recommend?
I recommend locking them up and throwing away the key. How about you James? We just need to make these nasty plebs disappear, no?
How about 24hr public loos and a properly resourced drop-in centre for those struggling with addiction? This should include a ‘wet room’ (which might sound funny to ninnies like Nini but actually just means somewhere where alcoholics can go without having to leave their booze outside). This is an important feature in increasing the usage (and thereby the efficacy) of such provision. Outreach work offering training and hands-on community projects for those with addiction problems could follow, to help build self-worth, transferable skills and a sense of involvement in the community. This might help at least some of those to equip and motivate themselves to break the cycle of dependency.
Hmm I’m thinking it seems counter intuitive to blame the chess table for antisocial behaviour. How about we leave the symptoms alone and work with the cause…
… ” wet centres” ?? I’m laughing at you.