Locals in 'nice and friendly' Leeds area say drugs, begging and shoplifting are rife
Locals spoke of their concerns
A "nice and friendly" Leeds area is in desperate need of improvement, say locals, who claim it has problems with drugs, begging and shoplifting, as well as anti-social behaviour and littering.
Leeds City Council is launching a scheme to improve all 33 wards in the city called ‘Love Leeds’. It aims to bring each community together to target issues facing each ward.
Little London and Woodhouse has been chosen as the third ward in the scheme which aims to harness “community and volunteer action”. Examples of possible improvements could be intensive environmental clean-ups, weeding, cleaning, and graffiti removal.
The scheme also aims to help with improving highways, removing rubbish, work to tackle and prevent fly-tipping, clearing and cleaning community spaces, housing support, and health support and advice such as pop-up blood pressure checks.
The programme will follow a rolling operating model, starting with engagement and consultation with local groups, stakeholders and residents in a ward to listen, understand and identify priorities for improvement.
Using a range of resident drop-ins and workshops, pop-up listening and engagement sessions and working closely with community, volunteer and third sector groups, the aim is to provide local opportunities for people to have a much stronger voice in how the area in which they live is looked after and improved.
Corner shop manager Aman Nishat, 46, who works at Silk Road Market, has said there's a lot of shoplifting at the One Stop next door. He says the area has lots of "nice and friendly people" but it isn't without its issues.
Aman said: "CCTV is the best thing they could put in. There's lots of robbery around here, especially at our neighbours One Stop. A lot of people take their goods without paying. Every week, like three or four times a week."
He said he wouldn't ever confront a shoplifter himself as they usually just "run away" and it can be intimidating.
Aman said littering is a big issue in the area, he said: "Especially on this park [Oatland Playground], when it's nice weather, people leave their rubbish. They shouldn't do it. It makes me feel upset and angry."
Sri Mathyala, 35, works as a manager at the One Stop. Sri says shoplifting happens daily. Items that get stolen can range from coffees, wines, meat and laundry products. Sri says they never try to catch them as it's not store policy. She says all they can do is tell them to stop. It's captured on their shop's CCTV and they report it "straight away" to the police.
Sri said: "It's very stressful, when you're running the shop, you have multiple tasks to do. It makes me feel a lot of pressure and stress. Each and every minute, we are working hard, struggling to pay the bills.
"In a minute, they used to take £70/£80 of stock. After that we have a lot of headaches to restock the stuff and we have a lot of things to do. Sometimes they take the whole stand and run out."
In general, people are "nice and kind" and she wants to help them but "some people are so rude and support the shoplifting." Sri thinks outreach programmes to help further educate people on the damage of shoplifting would be beneficial to the area.
Masoud Bohloli, who owns Charing Cross Launderette and works as a taxi driver, has said there needs to be more CCTV in the area. Masoud said: "Someone smashed my car windscreen with a hammer. It makes me feel bad as I needed my taxi but I couldn't work for three or four days. In general it's a s*** area. If we had more CCTV, more things like this wouldn't happen.
"There's lots of graffiti on my shutter. I don't have money to clean it."
There's a major problem with homelessness, according to Barber Kai, 25, who is from the area. Kai said: "You get people begging for money around here, all over. Asking people, forcing people. You get people asking for spare change. If they don't have spare change, they ask them for cigarettes and then they start asking for drinks. If they don't give them, they start shouting at them."
Kai has said the area is "not clean with beggars all over". He wasn't sure an outreach programme was the answer. He also thinks more CCTV would be beneficial to the area.
Local landlords Brad Holmes and Lisa Turner, son and mum, have said there is a big issue with drug addicts and drug dealers in the area, many of whom they claim are children. They have little faith in the council and police but are not sure what the best way to deal with the problem is.
Brad said: "Every single day, you get an army of crackheads walking around, all over the place. Gangs of kids congregate outside on the wall, all the time. It puts people off. We've had it a thousands times, that customers who didn't want to come in that day because there was about 20 kids sat outside the pub. They stand out there and fight amongst themselves.
"They have no respect, at all. I've seen police interact with them, and they just make a mockery of them."
Lisa thinks there needs to be more things for children to do in the area. Lisa said: "Something for children. There's nothing for them to do around here. There's nothing free anymore. When I was growing up around here, we had clubs, local swimming baths. You have to go all the way to Scott Hall Road now, just to go to a swimming bath. Even the parks are rubbish."
Brad added: "The parks are always burnt out or covered in rubbish, dog muck. I took the kids to the park once and never took them back, it's just horrible."
Launching the programme, Leeds City Council executive member for environment Councillor James Gibson said: “We are delighted to be getting ‘Love Leeds’ underway, as it will bring services, community groups and residents together in a more integrated way than ever before to identify what people want to see and feel improved in their area, and to quickly get on and deliver it.
“The tagline ‘cleaner streets, stronger communities’ reflects the aim to not only make a difference residents will be able to recognise, but to strengthen relationships at all levels to provide a sustainable new way of working in localities across Leeds, with everyone pulling together to make things better. Let’s get started.”
Council services directly involved include Housing Leeds, parks and greenspace, highways, Leeds Anti-Social Behaviour Team (LASBT), public health, Active Leeds, community hubs, waste management, jobs and skills and volunteering. Partners include West Yorkshire Police and third sector organisations.