BROCKWELL PARK – THE ORIGINAL LIB DEM DRINKING DEN
When Councillor Penny Ewens heard that the Lib Dems in Lambeth had a drinking den on Brockwell Park, she decided that she would like Hyde Park and Woodhouse to have one too. So, on the 4th April 2006, she announced that it would be necessary to establish a “drinking den” (to use her own words) in the ward for drinkers who would be displaced from Hanover and Woodhouse Squares as a result of the DPPO that was proposed for the two squares. At the same time, she mentioned that a drinking den had already been established in Lambeth. She didn’t say where it was proposed to locate the drinking den. However, a few days later, a local resident asked two PCSOs if they knew where the den was to be located. One of them replied “Woodhouse Moor, but the final decision is up to Penny”. Then, in a report presented to a meeting of the council’s Inner North West Area Committee on the 21st September 2006, the council’s area management team said :
Once the proposed DPPO is in place, the Moor may well attract street drinkers who have been displaced. The view of the Neighbourhood Policing Team is that the Moor is large enough for street drinkers to not cause a nuisance and regular patrols to the area would keep an eye on the situation.
At the same meeting, Inspector Richard Coldwell said he strongly supported the council’s plan to establish a drinking den on the Moor, and described a similar scheme in Brockwell Park in Lambeth where he said street alcoholics are encouraged to keep to a particular area of the park, screened from the rest of the park by bushes which they use as a toilet, and that having them in one place makes it easier for police and social workers to keep an eye on them – a “multi-agency success story”, he said.
We understand that a meeting took place on the Moor, and it was decided that the best location for the den would be in the corner of the park where Wellington’s statue is located. Residents wrote to the to the YEP to protest and emailed councillors with the result that the scheme appears to have been dropped – for the time being.
7 thoughts on “BROCKWELL PARK – THE ORIGINAL LIB DEM DRINKING DEN”
Bill – all very interesting, but as you well know there was never a plan to introduce a drinking den on Woodhouse Moor. It was mentioned at a meeting, briefly considered and then dropped. As you say, that this was actually brought up by Inspector Coldwell and not by Cllr Ewens. I am all for attacking politicians where someone disagrees with them or on fact, but this is not on the basis of fact. There was and as far as I am concerned never will be proposals to plan a drinking den on the Moor.
Martin – The plan to establish a drinking den in the ward was first mentioned by Councillor Ewens at the Little Woodhouse Community Forum which took place at the Civic Hall on the 4th April 2006 and which was chaired by Councillor Ewens. If you wish, I can forward you the minutes of the meeting. It was mentioned again by Inspector Coldwell at the INWAC meeting on the 21st September 2006. That’s two meetings that I’m aware of, five months apart that it was mentioned at. The fact that the plan hasn’t been carried out, doesn’t mean there wasn’t one.
why do you continue to tell lies about the so called drinking den proposal? you know there were never any plans for such. The council was undertaking due dilligence in looking at how other cities dealt with the issue of street drinkers, that’s all they were doing was looking at the idea and then decided it was not for Leeds. You are also misquoting the council report as you have extracted what you want to show from a report which presented arguements for and against having a DPPO on the moor. Lies, lies and more lies. but of course you won’t show this as you are not as democratic as you like to pretend you are.
Truthsayer – Councillor Ewens made her comments about the need to establish a drinking den in the ward during the 4th April 2006 Little Woodhouse Community Association Forum, and her comments were minuted. When the police said that the drinking den would be located on the Moor, but that the final decision was “up to Penny”, they made their remarks to a highly respected member of the local community. And I was present at the INWAC meeting in September 2006 when Inspector Coldwell voiced strong support for the proposal to establish a drinking den on the Moor. It’s quite clear from all of this that Councillor Ewens and the police believed that there was a proposal to establish a drinking den on the Moor. Just because the proposal was never formally drawn up, doesn’t mean it never existed.
The Minutes of the meeting in question exist as an objective fact, however much people who do not care to leave their real name on this forum may wish to insist otherwise. So post them here and let people read them for themselves! Just because it’s constantly repeated that there never was a plan for a drinking den doesn’t mean there never was.
Truthsayer – It’s not fair to local residents who contribute to this site openly for you to use the site to make comments about them that are so highly critical under the cover of anonymity. If you wish to make such comments, please do so under your true identity.
Truthsayer, I agree with Bill,
you should give your name.
What credibility can you expect if you are afraid to put your name to any of the comments you make?
And as for the name “truthsayer” Well you certainly don’t live up to it do you?
I would say if you want a fair and frank debate, stop behaving like you are a school kid with a nick-name and join the grown ups!!
Then maybe people might be interested in what you have to say.