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Plans submitted for homeless shelter in Ashton

Monday, 20 January 2020 19:17

By Charlotte Green, Local Democracy Reporter @CharGreenLDR

Plans for a new homeless shelter in Ashton-under-Lyne, which will house up to 35 rough sleepers, have gone before the town hall.

Tameside council is applying for planning permission to turn the former St Ann’s Church training centre on Newman Street into a facility for homeless men and women in the borough.

It will replace the ‘A Bed Every Night’ provision at the former Ryecroft Library in Audenshaw, which had been problematic with neighbouring residents raising concerns over drugs and anti-social behaviour.

People said the building – which sat next to a popular children’s play park – was not the right location for a shelter, and complained of finding needles in flowerbeds around the park on Manchester Road.


The Audenshaw base for the Bed Every Night scheme, at the former Ryecroft Library. Photo: Sean Hansford. 

Town hall chiefs said they had ‘outgrown’ that venue which was ‘always intended’ to be temporary, and in November they officially agreed to relocate it to the Ashton site.

The new hub would offer a wide range of support services, including healthcare, job and benefits advice, and housing options, and would be staffed day and night

The design and access report, on behalf of Tameside council states that there up to 60 rough sleepers at any one time within the local area.

Although only sleeping 35, the new facility would provide beds for some of these people who ‘generally form the most vulnerable members of society being at risk of serious health problems due to freezing winter temperatures’.

The housing at St Ann’s would be temporary, with support being provided before placing rough sleepers in more permanent move-on accommodation.

The report adds: “Some members of the community often perceive crime and anti-social behaviour with rough sleeping and whilst this may not be true, this perception could be removed with the proposed development removing rough sleepers off the streets, increasing both their own safety and the perceived safety of the community.”

The proposed plans would see classrooms and offices on the first floor turned into sleeping areas, and washing and cooking facilities put in place.

There would be two ten-bed dorms, with further six-bed and four-bed dorms, and rooms with one or two beds.

Toilet blocks and showers would be installed, and there would be a domestic kitchen and eating area.

The ground floor of the building, which will be subject to a separate application will become a community ‘hub’, including a cafeteria which will be open to locals to attend or carry out voluntary work.

The report states that the redevelopment of the building would provide a ‘critical service to rough sleepers by providing a safe environment to sleep, eat and wash’. 

“Providing facilities inside a building will therefore protect homeless people’s health and wellbeing from the risks and dangers of rough sleeping,” it adds.

Chiefs add it would also prevent the training centre, which has been empty since April 2017, from becoming derelict.

The target date for a decision on the proposals is February 17.

 

Main image:

The site proposed for new homeless shelter in Ashton-under-Lyne, behind St Ann's Church. Image by LDRS. 

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