Last night I used my right to speak as a member of the public at Colchester Borough Council’s full council meeting to address the growing problem of rough sleepers in the town. Like many I do not believe enough is being done to address this and help those who have ended up sleeping on the streets.

This is the transcript of what I said:

Thirty-three years ago my stepfather ran the project that opened Colchester’s original night shelter in South Street. I often used to go down there to help out and it was quite an education for me.

And yet all these years later I cannot walk through the town centre at night without seeing numerous rough sleepers sitting or sleeping in shop doorways. And there are many others too scattered around the outskirts of our town.

I know Councillor Mike Lilley is doing his best on the ground to deal with this human crisis, but it needs more.

Beacon House must be applauded for the amazing work they do helping these people during the day, as should Pete Hope at the GO4 Market Café, but they are only able to deal with the consequences of the problem, not deal with the problem itself.

The Night Shelter alone cannot cope with demand when that demand is high, which it will no doubt be again when St. Peters winter guest house closes soon, and their policy of breathalysing and drug testing may be necessary but an unfortunate consequence is that it ensures that there will always be those who end up on the streets for the night.

Nobody chooses to be addicted to drink or drugs. Addicts are people and they need our help too. Addiction is not a life-style choice for them, it is their reality.

And there are some too who may not engage with these facilities because they have issues with others who will be there, or simply don’t want to sleep in a room with others and share a toilet.

It’s simply not acceptable that a homeless person has died in one of this town’s public car parks whilst taking shelter from the cold.

Just down the A12 our neighbours in Chelmsford are investing in modular homes and setting land aside to build them on as a short to medium term solution to their own homeless problem.

In other towns and cities double-decker buses have been converted to provide mobile shelters and beds for the night. Others are looking at modular pod schemes. Yet here in Colchester we simply do not seem to have a plan, and since the collapse of the April centre there has been no real initiative to try to solve the problem.

It’s not acceptable to simply blame the government. This is happening RIGHT HERE and RIGHT NOW in our town yet all we seem to do is nibble away at the edges of the problem. There needs to be a strategic and holistic approach to solving this that should begin with an all parties round the table approach including residents, the homeless, businesses, the council, GO4, Beacon House and the Night Shelter.

This council is soon going to find £850,000 to pay for wheelie bins, and can magic £100,000 out of thin air to give away in the latest Big Choice giveaway to buy votes with resident’s own money, but when it comes to the very real, and growing, problem of people sleeping rough on our streets there seems to be neither the will nor apparently the money to solve it. Why couldn’t the £100,000 for Big Choice not have been put towards solving this problem? Why aren’t we looking at schemes and initiatives like other towns and cities are?

At the time of my stepfather’s death three years ago he was advising the United Nations and the US Secretary of State on homelessness and social inclusion of marginalised people, yet back here in Colchester, some thirty-three years after his work with the night shelter, we have gone backwards, not forwards.

If my stepfather could see what was going on in this town in 2017 he’d be spinning in his grave.

I did not expect a reply that would reassure me that things would change and the council would begin to do more, or even that my suggestion of an ‘all parties round the table meeting’ was a good one, instead what I did get was the reply I expected from Tina Bourne, the portfolio holder for Housing and Public Protection. To paraphrase, Councillor Bourne told the packed council chamber that there are more rough sleepers than 33 years ago, it’s the government’s fault, there isn’t enough money in the public purse, and the council and organisations such as Emmaus are doing everything possible.

Isn’t it about time Colchester Borough Council did more? Perhaps they could start by listening to the people they represent.

If, like me, you think that Colchester Borough Council should be doing more to help rough sleepers you can email Tina Bourne on cllr.tina.bourne@colchester.gov.uk