Covent Garden London
The heart of London's West End
STREET CRIME, DRUGS and ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR REACH EPIDEMIC LEVELS IN LONDON'S WEST END.
At a time when the Government has just announced new legislation to curb anti-social behaviour, the Crime Reduction Director, Government Office for London, Ms Ellie Roy, has withdrawn her commitment to attend a public meeting on Drugs and Anti-Social Behaviour.
In a letter to James Tait, Chair of the Covent Garden Community Association (CGCA), she states, “It is clear there are serious problems which need to be addressed,” but is, “Not convinced that a public meeting is the best way to achieve this.”
The CGCA and numerous other community and business groups in the West End of London have for years made representations to Government, the Metropolitan Police, Camden and Westminster Councils about escalating street crime and blatant drug dealing and abuse throughout the West End, but to little avail.
Determining enough is enough, the CGCA has organised a public meeting, to confront the authorities over their lethargy and inability to co-operate effectively, at The New Connaught Rooms, Great Queen Street WC2 on Wednesday Nov 6th at 6.30pm.
Ms Roy, in her letter to the CGCA dated 30 October, did recognise that, “It is important to concentrate on ensuring that there is a full understanding on the difficulties which face local residents and businesses,” but is offering instead to chair and host a round table meeting between representatives of CGCA and the key delivery agencies, with the aim of exploring solutions. This is entirely what the CGCA is doing by organising a Public Meeting, and is doing NOW and in PUBLIC with the businesses and residents of Covent Garden.
Speakers attending the meeting are the Rt Hon Frank Dobson MP, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Andy Trotter, Borough Commander Westminster, Chief Superintendent Anthony Brooks, Borough Commander Camden, Christopher Edwards Director of the Social Care Unit at St Martin-in-the-Fields, and Mr John Biggs, Metropolitan Police Authority.
Like much of the West End, Covent Garden has hostels for the homeless, with a majority of these homeless being registered drug addicts. It is now common to see people injecting themselves with needles and smoking crack on the streets. With tourists and Londoners out for entertainment, begging and street crime, have become endemic in the West End.
Contact: Alison Cattermoule 020 7836 3355
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