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REVEALED: SECRET DRUG CENTRE LIST
Fears for addicts as possible superclinic sites are unveiled
THE New Journal can reveal a secret shortlist of locations being targeted for a hard-drug superclinic in the south of the borough.
Most of the spots are in quiet, residential streets, or in the King’s Cross ward – an area long frequented by dealers which recovering drug addicts said they wanted to avoid at all costs. One is above a busy restaurant in Bloomsbury next to the British Museum.
The West End Drug Treatment Centre would bring all south Camden’s drug services together under one roof and help hundreds of users conquer their addiction with counselling and medication.
But resident groups fear the centre will become a magnet for muggers and pushers with junkies discarding needles in the street.
Town Hall officials unveiled their proposals behind closed doors in the Millman Street Community Rooms on Friday. Community leaders and councillors were warned not to contact the New Journal about the sites.
They are:
• 14 Roger Street in King’s Cross
• 285 Gray’s Inn Road in King’s Cross
• 291 Gray’s Inn Road in King’s Cross
• 14 Acton Street in King’s Cross
• 22 Bloomsbury Street, by the British Museum
• 19 Doughty Street, Holborn
• A house in Flitcroft Street, St Giles.
NHS Camden and the council, the joint-commissioners of the centre, have taken the unusual step of getting private providers to propose sites during a tendering process.
But, according to insiders, everyone attending the meeting on Friday said the sites were “unsuitable” and the firms had simply trawled estate agents searching for vacant properties.
Chairman of the Marchmont Street Association Ricci De Freitas said: “None of them are feasible or viable. Some of the locations do not fit the council’s criteria or advice. We left the meeting thinking the presentation was very poor and that the meeting had been a complete waste of time.
“At some stage they are going to have to deal with this – but I wouldn’t be surprised if they put it off until after the election.”
King’s Cross ward councillor Jonathan Simpson added: “This is just an estate agent approach rather than properly looking into the suitability of location. The council has not gone about this in the right way.”
A centralised south Camden drug service and needle exchange near Centrepoint was first suggested three years ago but collapsed under the weight of opposition.
One of the sites, a small house in Flitcroft Street, is just behind the Centrepoint building.
Jim Murray, chairman of the Bloomsbury Association, said: “We have always said the centre has got to be on a main road and not in a residential area that could attract drug addicts.”
Many residents groups have simply refused to go to consultative meetings because of the secrecy surrounding the project – at least three major residents’ associations snubbed the meeting on Friday. According to NHS Camden’s consultation document, south Camden has been chosen for the centre because “around one in five of Camden’s estimated drug users live in the West End”, adding: “We propose to terminate some existing services and commission a new, expertly managed integrated drug treatment service in Camden’s West End.”
Lib Dem councillor James King said: “Unfortunately, there are people needing drug services in every ward in Camden. Good drug treatment services are really important to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour. We want to help people who have drug issues – that takes treatment.”
He added: “Friday was an additional meeting for getting views from the community about possible locations. We are at an early stage. We haven’t any criteria saying the centre will not be in King’s Cross ward – it will be somewhere within Bloomsbury, Holborn and Covent Garden and King’s Cross wards. There will be a lot more opportunity about debate and input during the planning process.”
The proposals are expected to come before planning chiefs in December. |
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