West View House, Hyde Gate: Residents angry over increasing disorder

Hyde Gate residents held a crisis meeting over the disorder they have witnessed near West View House. 

Around 25 people from the Hyde area grilled representatives from A2Dominion, which operates the home and Winchester City Council, responsible for homelessness in the city.

In a heated meeting, residents called for more action to tackle the increase in crime. The police had no representation at the meeting. When the Chronicle arrived, council representatives were not keen for the proceedings to be on record, but gave way after residents insisted. One member of the audience said: "We want our voices heard, I'm glad the Chronicle is here."

At the entrance to the room was a selection of posters showing what residents thought of the situation. They said: “Feeling safe in our own home is gone. Urinating in public places every day. Scared to leave home after dark. No control at West View House. Unsafe place to live here. Constant foul language night and day. Action needed now, not tomorrow or soon. A2 Dominion take control or close. Frequent sexual activity in public places. Constant promises but no action. Little or no police presence.”

Hyde Gate posters (Image: Newsquest)

READ MORE: Residents near West View House in Hyde, Winchester say they are at "wits end" because of anti-social behaviour

Residents from West View House regularly appear in magistrates court with their cases covered by the Chronicle. The offences are usually shoplifting which indicates they have drug addiction issues.

Julian Perkins, who lives in Hyde Gate, said: “I hope the authorities that run West View House appreciate the what the depth of feeling is. For me, the whole objective of this meeting is to make it absolutely clear that we have totally had enough of the goings on at West View House. I'm in the position now where my grandchildren can't come and see us. In fact, my wife is going to a hotel for two nights next week just so we can have our seven, nine, 11, and 13-year-old grandchildren visit us. That cannot be right. My wife doesn't feel safe to leave the house at night. It can't go on like this.”

Rebecca Hallett, neighbourhood services team lead at Winchester City Council, told the meeting that residents should report any anti-social behaviour they witness with photos and as much detail as possible. 

She added: “Prior to Thursday, we had seen a reduction of reports of stuff coming through, which is really important. That's not to say we weren't getting any, but we have seen a reduction.”

One resident said: “That's because we don't see any change, we have given up.”

Hyde Gate (Image: Newsquest)

Cllr John Tippett-Cooper, who represents the St Bartholomew ward on Winchester City Council, attended the meeting and lives nearby. He said: “I'm as acutely impacted by this as everyone here, in fact I'm very tired today because I've had two broken nights of sleep because there has been a lot of disruption.”

Cllr Tippett-Cooper added: “Everyone is quite upset about this, I am too. But there are legal obligations on the authorities to house and support these people. There is also a reason why these people are here. Everyone here is just one tragic life event away from being in the same sort of situation. However, I agree it's in the wrong location.

"I know relevant organisations are working together to address the underlying reasons for antisocial behaviour and help support local residents who are being impacted by this. We must continue to try to find ways to tackle these problems that tend to spike in the summer months.”

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Mr Perkins said: “Can I make two suggestions? That you revisit the ability to introduce a curfew because that would cut out 90 per cent of the goings on that happen after midnight. And can you consider not putting people there who you have already been there four or five times and have absolutely no interest in rehabilitation?”

Funding for West View House is partly provided by Hampshire County Council. As part of budget cuts, the funding may be withdrawn after the decision is published in October. 
At the end of the meeting, the residents agreed to collect names and contact details to keep the community informed of future developments. 

West View House (Image: Newsquest)

Jude Cross, director of specialist housing at A2Dominion said, in a statement: “Westview House helps individual residents to gain the skills needed to move on to a more permanent home. Everyone has a designated support officer and an independent living plan to help them get their lives back on track after the trauma of being homeless. We work with our residents to address support needs to include substance misuse, education, and health, and encourage meaningful activity. 

“Hampshire County Council fund the support offered at Westview House and we work in partnership with them as well as with Winchester City Council and other key stakeholders to deliver this service. If any anti-social behaviour occurs, we tackle this robustly through our personal intervention plan procedure. This can result in immediate eviction, but we aim to support people where appropriate, for example educating them on the impact of their behaviour on others and in making positive changes. I would like to reassure the local community that crime is never tolerated and would be immediately reported to the police. 

“When made aware of anti-social behaviour in or around the premises of Westview House we work with our residents and police to manage and resolve any problems. We encourage residents to talk to us about any concerns they may have and report issues to the police. We would welcome additional CCTV in the area and enhanced police powers as this would also protect our residents.” 

A Hampshire County Council statement said: “We are aware of the ongoing concerns of local residents in relation to their experience of living in the vicinity and would reassure them that we continue to work closely with the provider and the city council to address the issues they have raised.”

A Winchester City Council spokesman said: “We completely understand the concerns of Hyde Gate residents who have experienced instances of anti-social behaviour over the past few weeks, and we’re keen to work with them alongside our partner agencies in the Winchester Community Safety Partnership, as well as A2 Dominion’s staff at West View House, to address the issues that have been occurring.

“Working closely with the police and other agencies, we’re taking action in the area to tackle recent anti-social behaviour, including increasing partnership patrols and engaging with local people to make sure they know where and how to report issues. The evidence that local people provide is really key to tackling anti-social behaviour so we would encourage residents to report any issues they experience via the Your Winchester app or by calling 101.”

A Hampshire Police spokesman said: "We take anti-social behaviour seriously as we know the negative effect it has on residents and businesses.

"Officers from our Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) have been in regular contact with the residents of Hyde Gate to understand their concerns and update them with action we have taken when incidents have been reported to us.

"In the past eight weeks, this has included the use of two separate dispersal orders which gave officers additional powers to order people to leave the area, and targeted high-visibility patrols carried out by NPT officers every shift.

"We have also worked with our partners including those included in Winchester’s Community Safety Partnership and housing providers to address concerns.

"We encourage local residents to keep reporting issues to us so we can get the best possible understanding of what is happening, and continue to use all tactics available to us to target those responsible for anti-social behaviour.

"If a crime is in progress then please dial 999."