Residents of the Kings Cross Road based hostels (I mean those that accommodate "hard to ordinarily house Camden based (anti-social) people," the local authority has a "housing obligation" towards) are noticeably more present and aggressively begging in the surrounding streets and areas and are harassing local residents lives.
It is hard to explain why this has happened but part of the explanation could be an increase in tourism traffic at Kings Cross since the opening of St Pancras International, and the hostel occupants taking advantage of this."Managed" low key prostitutes, alcoholics and drug users are asking for money or sit around corners drinking. Aggressive intimidation and verbal abuse may occur if you refuse to give them attention.
Apparently (from hear and say) the hostels are badly managed, but evidently they seem to have no control over the residents put there or how these behave outside, and this paid partially through council tax monies, that is you and me.
It can not be right that respectable tax paying residents are increasingly and continuously being harassed by the users of a local Camden service, even if it may right to house groups like these. I believe more must be done in terms of cooperation between local police and the hostel management and a more thorough service that challenges these hostel occupants.
Well patrolled St Pancras and Kings Cross Station must extend its service more rigidly to a radius of at least 1 1/2 miles around the station, including all those areas were major hotels and the Tesco supermarket are based.
Have you experienced harassment or anti-social behaviour by such people recently,
or noticed an increase too? Share your experiences here, and let everyone know.
Also do Contact your local Safer Neighbourhood team, instantly:
For Kings Cross Ward
020 8721 2694
07920 233769
For St Pancras and Sommers Town
Phone:
020 8721 2810
07867 536621
For the Islington based safer neighbourhood numbers click here.
Modified version originally from Daniels Counter Blog. Creative Common Licence Applies.
Kings Cross Environment 
I don’t know who these ‘respectable’ residents are, but I for one (probably not respectable) resident, am in favour of local authorities having an obligation to house those in need – ‘social’ or ‘anti-social’. And yes, in my back yard too. Will you publish?
If they were well managed and gave residents hope and alternatives, which is what I would expect from such places, and secondly it is not fair to have several of such hostels dumped in one area, if not one street – Kings Cross Road. This is inheritance from a period where Kings Cross was stigmatized as an area without a voice the polar opposite to Hampstead or Swiss Cottage in Camden. Being acceptant and liberal of such projects is one thing, there can be no doubt that housing such people is better than them having to roam the streets and be completely off monitor, at least they have some sort of a chance and somewhere to sleep and possibly some welfare provisions, but if local communities get terrorized because of that the way the project has been implemented is simply not good enough. As I was writing yesterday someone told me that in fact Travelodge Hotel supposedly have made a major complaint against at least one of the hostels not so long ago too. Apparently tourists have been physically attacked and harassed. One such hostel is more than enough for one neighbourhood, and further good management structures that co-align with local policing and neighbourhood teams should be part of that. After all where I grew up years ago, we were proud of our local homeless and alcoholics, whom everybody knew and in fact helped. Rather than general comments about the merits of hostels for hard to house people, which hardly many would disagree with, it would be much more interesting to read any progressive ideas you may have, that could improve the situation for us here in SE Kings Cross or in deed in the metaphorical hostel in your own backyard.
I don’t mind the guys who sell the big issue etc and I think each community should accept the responsibility to help it’s share of people who are not so well off as them, but I agree that there can obviously be problems if lots of hostels are sited in one community.
I have occasionally been threatened, snarled at etc by ‘angry tramps’ outside of Tesco on the Caledonian Rd if I haven’t responded to their requests for money. As I understand it, they have nowhere to go during the day and little support to help themselves so it’s no surprise they gravitate around busy places like this.
I don’t have a particularly insightful answer to all this – more an observation that it certainly happens, the reasons are complex and the answers even more so.
I find your tone agressive, argumentative, patronising and insulting. Including rumour in posts on this site seems wholly inappropriate when other authors go out of their way to verify what they write and include references to sources.
Thanks Sarah, excellent comment. Perhaps that is the key, I do notice that they tend to leave in the morning , perhaps hostel policy that occupants have to leave at that time, and then what? Your observation is correct. Programs to engage people, ideally with the local community, therefore engaging both would be a good way forward. I am sorry about Sophie’s feeling, I can’t reveal my source, but a phone call to Travelodge’s management will suffice to see if my information source was correct.
I received this by email from Joyce:
in reply to the begging around kings cross station, there are rarely any patrols around the station when we are there.
i work on the trains, from newcastle to kings cross and have a quick ciggy during our turnaround, we are constantly asked for cigs and cash by persons who have spent their cash in the off licence or to suppliers of other substances. not so intimidating for us as we are used to dealing with strange people on the trains but for people who pass through the area, it must be a shocking sight for them to see drunks etc wandering around and sitting just outside the station swigging their cans. not a good advert for our fine country
Hi Daniel,
You may have seen this already (apologies if you have), but I noticed on the most recent kingscrossenvironment posting information on tomorrow’s (Tuesday 10th June) Islington West Area Committee Meeting.
One agenda item is on the Islington “Multi Agency Geographical Panels in Islington (MAGPI)”.
On the Islington Council website I got the following….
“MAGPI (Multi Agency Geographical Panels in Islington) are problem solving panels that aim to deal with issues of antisocial behaviour and low level crime through a multi agency response…… Membership is made up of representatives from the Police, Housing, Children’s Services, Greenspace, Education, Islington Drug & Alcohol Action Team, elected members, Street Environment Services, Adult outreach teams and the Islington Antisocial Behaviour Team.”
Perhaps this is the right forum/group to discuss/agree actions on the concerns you raise?
I will be attending the meeting tomorrow if I can as I am interested in some other matters.
With regards to begging I have noticed it most prevalent, as others do, around the Tesco on Caledonian Road and the hotels on Kings Cross Road. I now recoginise four or five “regulars”.
Cheers,
Andrew
Dear Andrew, thanks for the Islington info. On ethe Camden side of Kings Cross we have the area forum and the KX partnership. I am often participant at both and will raise the issue when I have some time. I agree that there are “regulars.” By the way I went down to Travelodge yesterday, I can now conform that the woman at the reception said they have made complaints on various occasions. They said they are also anxious about some plans for a new night club in the area. Not sure which one they are talking about and if it is the one previously mentioned on this blog.
Outside the Tesco store today were at least 5 people, drunk and begging, right in front of the prostitute card boxes. Classy. I contacted the support team – 0207 421 0271 – who were *not* aware of a problem in the area. They have offered to increase patrols in the area. It would clearly help if those who are concerned about this issue could call the community support team. They also suggested for immediate action call the Islington station on 0207 704 1212.
May be of interest….I was walking from King’s Cross station down Pentonville Road on Friday afternoon and noticed a large police + community police officer presence stopping/questioning people who one could describe as being the more homeless looking of the general public (I know this is a rash generalisation, but no-one with a suit/tie was being stopped). I asked one community police officer if there was a specific operation underway but he declined to comment.
I don’t have a particular fascination with rough sleeping/begging for which I feel the need to comment, however I keep coming across related information.
I work in the boundaries of the City of London, and receive a newsletter “Farringdon Within Ward News”. In November’s edition mention is made of rough sleepers:
“Latterly however, the numbers [of rough sleepers has] increased substantially and for example over the last 6 months contacts have been made with 1483 people….”
“One of the problems is that other boroughs have adopted a zero tolerance which in some cases has involved measures such as hosing down the bedding etc of their persistent rough sleepers which has driven a considerable number of them into the City”
They pledge action, no doubt with an increased spend of tax payer money. This I suspect will push rough sleepers elsewhere/back to their “original” boroughs where more money will again be spent pushing them back into the City or elsewhere. It seems like the outcome will be the borough with the most money will have the least rough sleepers without anyone actually solving the problem.
I wonder if there is any cross borough discussion/collaboration on this.