Council Cabinet votes to target the homeless

Despite overwhelming public anger, the Tory-led Poole Council has voted to go ahead with their PSPO which will target the homeless.

They have chosen to ignore over 3,300 signatories of our Petition and the residents who completed the original consultation, choosing to only listen to businesses and sole traders.

Poole Labour Party representatives questioned the Cabinet at the meeting on 13 March, at which Cllr Karen Rampton was at pains to stress that the PSPO did not target the homeless, however, three of the activities identified within the Order do exactly that. These are:

i) Having a receptacle which is being used to contain monies for the purpose of begging. ii) Belongings, baggage and bags being left unattended on the street. iii) Causing an obstruction in car parks, doorways, public and communal areas.

They claimed that they were stopping people getting into this situation, but the Conservative Government's austerity measures are one of the main factors in the massive increase in rough sleepers. Cllr Karen Rampton even went as far to say that "there is no Magic Money Tree" to deal with the situation (unless you belong to the DUP).

Cllr Newell advised that she believed the PSPO would enable the Council to move on people, which would calm down any anti-social behaviour. She explained that, if you were a teacher "you wouldn't group naughty school children together". These are vulnerable people, they do not need scorn or condescending language.

For all their talk that this PSPO does not target the Homeless, Cllr John Rampton was adamant that he wanted to remove any belongings left on the street. This, following the death of "Kev" in Bournemouth, shows how cruel and callous the thought behind this PSPO is.

The Council will be bringing this Order into force on the 16th of April.

We are grateful for all the support you have given to us in this campaign, this is not the end. We will be planning a mass protest

and we will also be looking into supporting legal action against this measure after receiving advice from the Human Rights charity, Liberty.