Tory councillor calls homeless people UNSIGHTLY
Councillor asked charity to close early because homeless people are 'unsightly'
The chairman of the charity says they were asked to close three hours early because important investors were visiting the nearby Town Hall
A homeless charity based across the road from Torquay Town Hall says they were asked to close early one day by a senior Torbay councillor on a day when major investors were coming to discuss a multi-million development - because homeless people were an ‘eyesore’.
Chairman of Humanity Torbay, Ellie Waugh, says that the councillor phoned her at home and asked the charity to close its doors to the homeless three hours early or else it wouldn’t be in ‘Torbay’s best interests’.
since then, Ellie has vowed the charity ‘would never do something like this again’, and that it was ‘disgusting’ that they were pressured into closing early.
Torbay Council has not denied the incident but says it takes the responsibility towards vulnerable members of the community very seriously.
Humanity Torbay says it has helped find accommodation for more than 678 homeless people and gained official status as a registered charity.
Ellie explained: “A couple of days before, someone very high up in Torbay Council phoned me at home, and also messaged me on Facebook saying that it would be unfavourable if we didn’t shut at 12pm that day. We normally open until 3pm.
“They said that there were investors coming to look at the car park next to the Town Hall as part of a multi-million pound deal with investors.
“They said that, because our guys hang around the area around Humanity Torbay, it would be unsightly and wouldn’t be in Torbay’s best interests to stay open until 3pm.
“We weren’t a charity then, and we were worried about standing up for ourselves – but we will never do that again.
“When I told the trustees about what I’d been told, they were very, very unhappy. The councillor phoned me up at home, and I had the phone call on loudspeaker so my husband could hear it too.
“My husband was horrified. We couldn’t believe it. Everyone was very, very surprised, but never again will we close to anyone.
“We’ve got nothing to lie about, and we were incredibly shocked to be asked to close early. We had to keep telling everyone in the centre that we were closing. Apparently, they asked several other establishments to close early too, and we were the only people that actually did it.
“Our guys are often right near the Town Hall, hanging around. At the moment I’m in talks to take another building around the corner too.
“I have this information in black-and-white, it was also sent to me in a Facebook message. We’re really not happy about it.
“At the time we closed because we didn’t want to get in trouble with the council, but we will never do that again for anyone. It’s disgusting that we were asked to do something like that.”
A Torbay Council spokesperson said: “Homelessness is a major national problem and we take our responsibility towards vulnerable members of the community very seriously. The council works in partnership with a range of organisations and is part of the Torbay End Street Homelessness campaign.
“With our partners we carry out a range activities including locating and providing a warm and safe place for rough sleepers to sleep, providing additional accommodation over the winter period, offering continued support and housing advice to try and prevent the cycle of homelessness, and addressing a range of complex issues which often accompany homelessness.”
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