Established 2005 Registered Charity No. 1110656
Scottish Charity Register No. SC043760
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Bromsgrove residents up in arms about ¬¨¬£1.7m development of young people‘s flats
Plans to build a block of flats for young homeless people face further opposition after a residents' campaign against the scheme was widened to cover the whole of Bromsgrove, Worcestershire.
The Foyer development, one of 130 similar schemes nationwide, would see 15 new flats built to accommodate people aged 16-25. Training, education, preparation for work and learning life skills would also be provided. However, according to The Bromsgrove Advertiser, local residents claimed the "largely unsupervised" project could lead to a sharp rise in antisocial, criminal and other serious problems.
While residents' association chairman Katie Baylis insisted "we are not against the scheme in principle and we realise there is a need for this type of accommodation... we firmly believe the proposed site at Aston Fields is in the wrong place." A public meeting, arranged by the residents' group, was planned for 24th July to organise a 'fighting fund' and draw up a petition against the development to cover the whole of Bromsgrove.
The £1.7m development is being built on the site of disused offices and garages near the town's main train station. The planning is being carried out by the West Mercia Housing Group in partnership with Bromsgrove District Council, Worcestershire County Council's Supporting People team and the Housing Corporation.
Lisa Mason, head of new business at West Mercia Housing Group, rejected the local paper's description of the project as "largely unsupervised". "Initially, we were looking at three months of 24-hour supervision on site," explained Mrs Mason. "After that period, a support worker on site from 8am to 10pm, on-call service throughout the night and at weekends, as well as CCTV and ground-floor access to police".
However, she added that in response to residents' concerns, there would now be 24-hour supervision for six months. "Supporting People have agreed to fund this and we are looking at ways to provide 24-hour supervision for even longer than that," she said. "There's also the possibility of having a night porter or concierge, similar to those in students' halls of residence, if the housing benefit can pay for that. So, no, it's not fair to say the project will be largely unsupervised".
Mrs Mason also highlighted the crime statistics in Hereford from before and after the building of other Foyers in the area, which showed the crime rate actually fell. While Mrs Mason did not attribute this to the building of the Foyer itself, she said it showed that residents need not fear a rise in crime levels following the development in Bromsgrove.
A group from the residents' association recently visited three other Foyer schemes, and "worryingly", according to The Bromsgrove Advertiser, reported that a policeman had told them that on one other site all the young tenants had been evicted. Mrs Mason explained to The Pavement that while the eviction had indeed occurred, it was because of support and management issues and lack of police involvement. When the absence of a proper support framework inevitably led to the situation at the Foyer going wrong, the young residents were evicted and a "close working relationship" was set up with local police to avoid the same thing happening again. The UK Foyer network was launched in 1992 from a model first introduced in France, and which has since been transported across the world. The UK network now supports over 10,000 homeless 16- to 25-year-olds each year and a new Foyer opens on average one a month. According to the Foyer website, their scheme helps young people at risk escape the 'no home-no job-no home' cycle. Part of the aim of the charity is to work with local communities and encourage their young residents to integrate. To foster links, many Foyer facilities can be used by nonresidents in addition to a number of open programmes and schemes, for example in community education. Mrs Mason also highlighted plans to bring in a steering group management committee and involve the residents committee in this.
December 2024 – January 2025 : Solidarity
CONTENTS
BACK ISSUES
- Issue 153 : December 2024 – January 2025 : Solidarity
- Issue 152 : October – November 2024 : Change
- Issue 151 : August – September 2024 : Being Heard
- Issue 150 : June – July 2024 : Reflections
- Issue 149 : April – May 2024 : Compassion
- Issue 148 : February – March 2024 : The little things
- Issue 147 : December 2023 – January 2024 : Next steps
- Issue 146 : October 2023 – November 2023 : Kind acts
- Issue 145 : August 2023 – September 2023 : Mental health
- Issue 144 : June 2023 – July 2023 : Community
- Issue 143 : April 2023 - May 2023 : Hope springs
- Issue 142 : February 2023 - March 2023 : New Beginnings
- Issue 141 : December 2022 - January 2023 : Winter Homeless
- Issue 140 : October - November 2022 : Resolve
- Issue 139 : August - September 2022 : Creativity
- Issue 138 : June - July 2022 : Practical advice
- Issue 137 : April - May 2022 : Connection
- Issue 136 : February - March 2022 : RESPECT
- Issue 135 : Dec 2021 - Jan 2022 : OPPORTUNITY
- Issue 134 : September-October 2021 : Losses and gains
- Issue 133 : July-August 2021 : Know Your Rights
- Issue 132 : May-June 2021 : Access to Healthcare
- Issue 131 : Mar-Apr 2021 : SOLUTIONS
- Issue 130 : Jan-Feb 2021 : CHANGE
- Issue 129 : Nov-Dec 2020 : UNBELIEVABLE
- Issue 128 : Sep-Oct 2020 : COPING
- Issue 127 : Jul-Aug 2020 : HOPE
- Issue 126 : Health & Wellbeing in a Crisis
- Issue 125 : Mar-Apr 2020 : MOVING ON
- Issue 124 : Jan-Feb 2020 : STREET FOOD
- Issue 123 : Nov-Dec 2019 : HOSTELS
- Issue 122 : Sep 2019 : DEATH ON THE STREETS
- Issue 121 : July-Aug 2019 : INVISIBLE YOUTH
- Issue 120 : May-June 2019 : RECOVERY
- Issue 119 : Mar-Apr 2019 : WELLBEING
- Issue 118 : Jan-Feb 2019 : WORKING HOMELESS
- Issue 117 : Nov-Dec 2018 : HER STORY
- Issue 116 : Sept-Oct 2018 : TOILET TALK
- Issue 115 : July-Aug 2018 : HIDDEN HOMELESS
- Issue 114 : May-Jun 2018 : REBUILD YOUR LIFE
- Issue 113 : Mar–Apr 2018 : REMEMBRANCE
- Issue 112 : Jan-Feb 2018
- Issue 111 : Nov-Dec 2017
- Issue 110 : Sept-Oct 2017
- Issue 109 : July-Aug 2017
- Issue 108 : Apr-May 2017
- Issue 107 : Feb-Mar 2017
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- Issue 96 : April 2015 [Mini Issue]
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- Issue 93 : December 2014
- Issue 92 : November 2014
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