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Lessons in locating a drug centre
• I ATTENDED a meeting about the drug centre planned for south of Euston Road on Thursday and left feeling very worried about the “consultation” process and in particular how the location for the drug centre will be chosen.
At the meeting we learned:
• The location of this drug centre is of crucial concern to all the local residents and the project team know this;
• the team also know, from previous similar projects, that consulting on the location of such services is fraught with problems, and so;
• the team have decided not to consult on the location at all.
They do not even plan to choose the location themselves.
This matter of crucial concern to every resident will be outsourced to a third party and there will be no consultation!
The current public consultation questionnaire does not ask a single question about where the drug centre should be located.
At the meeting the team had no answer to the question “From the point of view of the residents, what would make a good location, or a bad location?”.
Close to a school?
In a residential street?
In a street which already has homeless hostels?
The idea of specifying some location criteria seemed to be new to them.
Their plan is to invite third parties to submit proposals for locating, developing and running the drug centre.
The chosen proposal will have to go through a planning application and that will be our one and only opportunity to comment on the location. A planning application is no substitute for a consultation.
We also learned that on the panel which will select the proposal there will be one solitary person representing the entire local community.
If that person lives in the west of the area how are they supposed to be unbiased and represent the residents in the east impartially?
The consultation officially closes on April 16 but the project team confirm that they will accept comments for a short time after that date. So if you care about where this drug centre is located write and give them your views.
Send comments to: Freepost
RRZS-UXUU-KTEE, NHS Camden,
St Pancras Hospital, NW1 0PE.
John Hartley
King’s Cross, WC1
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