Areas must share responsibility for homeless ‘crash pads’, says councillor

MORE than half of Rotherham Council’s “crash pads” for homeless people are in the five most deprived wards — while just three per cent are in the five most affluent areas.

RMBC has 125 properties used for temporary and emergency accommodation for households, with the units varying in type and size.

Six of the 25 council wards do not have any, while Greasbrough has the most with 29 — prompting a call for more even distribution to ensure all areas of the borough play a part.

Cllr Michael Bennett-Sylvester looked into the distribution following the troubling case of a single mum in his ward whose flat was opposite a “crash pad” inhabited by a man who collapsed on the shared landing and defecated in communal areas.

He discovered that the five most deprived wards — Rotherham East, Dalton & Thrybergh, Rotherham West, Greasbrough and Boston Castle — have 66 units (53 per cent of RMBC’s total).

Meanwhile, the five least deprived wards — Sitwell, Wales, Anston & Woodsetts, Hellaby & Maltby West and Bramley & Ravenfield — contain just four (three per cent).

Six wards — Brinsworth, Bramley & Ravenfield, Dinnington, Hellaby & Maltby West, Wales and Wickersley North — do not have any RMBC temporary accommodation for the homeless.

Independent Cllr Bennett-Sylvester, Thrybergh & Dalton ward, said: “The homeless crash pads can bring some difficult challenges and it is grossly unfair that these challenges are concentrated in the poorest wards.

“I had a casework example where a single parent with a young child daren’t leave their flat due to the occupant of the homeless property sharing the landing laying seemingly comatose on the landing, having a habit of trying to look through door spyholes in the block of flats and worst of all defecating in the communal areas.

“When you look at a map of wards that don’t have any of these properties you see a large empty area along the A631 of Wickersley North, Bramley and Ravenfield and Maltby and Hellaby West, it would be interesting to see if the few in Thurcroft and Wickersley South ward are in the Thurcroft or Wickersley bits of that ward. 

“It’s only fair that the leafier parts of town start to take a share of this burden.”