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A crackdown is being launched against items left on the streets of Chester to protect the public from potential terrorism while keeping any belongings safe.

People living rough often leave sleeping bags and other items in doorways and on the pavement as they struggle to survive.

To avoid a potential security risk, the council and partner agencies have been encouraging homeless people to leave their belongings at the city’s Hamilton House Assessment Hub instead.

And from September 2 the council’s streetcare team will begin removing all remaining items left lying around.

The initiative will also have the added bonus of keeping the city centre tidier although this is not an explicit aim.

It is being managed by a partnership of organisations working alongside Cheshire West and Chester Council to solve the problem of homelessness including forfutures, the Outside In group, CH1BID and Cheshire Police .

All these groups are spreading the word among the homeless community.

Councillor Richard Beacham, cabinet member for housing, regeneration and growth, said: “ Cheshire West and Chester Council and our partners are working hard to support rough sleepers and end homelessness in our borough.

"This latest initiative is designed to help rough sleepers keep their belongings safe and dry, plus interacting with this service means our outreach teams can identify further ways we can support homeless people back into housing.

“We all want Chester to be a safe and secure place. Having a safe place for rough sleepers to leave belongings is a balanced approach to supporting their needs, whilst recognising the security concerns of businesses and residents in the city.

“This safe storage facility will ensure people’s belongings are protected and are not seen as a potential security threat by the police, as happens with other baggage items in public spaces.”

Simon Groom, chair of Outside in, made up of charities, voluntary groups, faith groups, businesses and the public sector, said: “We have been aware for some time that people sleeping rough often leave belongings in doorways and unsecured places across the city.

“These are at risk of being removed as a potential security threat, stolen or damaged. To protect these items and help the rough sleepers, we are pleased that our partners are now able to offer a location where rough sleepers can leave belongings safely and without risk to the city’s security.”

Adam Dandy, one of the founders of homeless charity Share, does not have a problem with the approach, which should also lead to a better image for the city.

He said: “As long as there are storage spaces provided, which we believe there will, we don’t think it’s a problem because we understand that it creates antagonism between the homeless community and local business owners and it’s not good for tourism to have sleeping bags and bedding on the street.”

Aiming his fire at national policy, he continued: “But we need more rooms and we need more beds. If we had more rooms and we had more beds people would not need to sleep on the streets.”

Mr Dandy praised the impact of the Hamilton House assessment hub launched in Chester in April as part of a government pilot project and run by the council’s partner forfutures.

Support workers or ‘navigators’ offer tailored support to people sleeping rough until they are settled in accommodation.

However, he is against the so-called ‘no local connection’ rule that means homeless people can’t get help if they are away from where they are perceived to come from. The logic is to ensure the burden of support is spread evenly so that no one council becomes inundated. The problem is people often do not wish to return to the place where their life fell apart.

Mr Dandy’s solution is for central government to set up a mechanism that allows the host council to be reimbursed by the individual’s ‘home’ authority.

■ This latest initiative is one of a number of projects the council, Outside In and partners are working on to help people sleeping rough in the borough improve their personal circumstances. Hamilton House Assessment Hub has helped dozens of people move from the streets into accommodation since it launched in the spring.

A new model of ‘pop up’ night shelters ran successfully during the winter to provide support for people when the temperature drops.

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