Concerns raised over removal of Town benches

Socialising with his friends on the benches at Town Church has been a focal point in Rocky Gardner’s day – while at night he sleeps rough.

‘If I carry on sleeping out like this, I’ll wake up dead one morning,’ said Mr Gardner, 71.

The retired plasterer spent Monday night sleeping in a sheltered, outdoor spot on the St Peter Port coast.

Yesterday morning he was sitting on fixed benches to the east of the church, opposite the entrance to the Albion House pub, following removal of the benches from Church Square last week.

He has been sleeping rough – in outdoor spaces and in garages – ever since he was evicted from his one-bedroom, non-smoking flat eight months ago.

He said he was given one week’s notice after being caught smoking by the landlord.

Mr Gardner said he was concerned about the health implications of his current situation and was dealing with having arthritis down one side of his body and, more recently, bronchitis.

‘I just want a single-bed flat,’ he said.

‘I don’t care where.’

St Peter Port constable Zoe Lihou ordered the removal of the benches as part of a trial to look at tackling antisocial behaviour in the area, after concerns were expressed by parishioners.

She said the parish was not in a position to find long-term solutions for the people who habitually gathered in Church Square and that the island, as a whole, needed to look after them better.

She is in favour of a ‘wet space’, where accommodation, washing facilities and broader support could be provided for those who need them, but that would likely need intervention from a social services agency rather than be provided by the parish.

Mrs Lihou was keen to reinforce that the benches had been removed as a wide-ranging trial to tackle the breadth of anti-social behaviour.

Sheena Eborall said easier access to affordable accommodation would find favour with most of those who gather at Church Square. A friend of Mr Gardner, she is currently renting a single-room flat with her partner Tony Nico. The couple are paying £900 a month and sharing a kitchen and bathroom between 10 people, which made it almost impossible to keep the place clean, she said. When the shower broke earlier this year, it was three months before it was fixed.

They were sceptical about the effectiveness of removing the benches on which they usually sit.

‘They’ve put one of them up on Smith Street, so I guess we’ll just go there,’ Mr Nico said.

They said they had become frustrated with the island’s housing authorities after Mr Nico was taken off the waiting list for accommodation. They understood the reason to be a rental debt previously owed – but subsequently paid – by Miss Eborall’s former partner. Their circumstances were leading them both to feel anxious, they said, with an added stress being that Mr Nico was imminently due to begin a course of chemotherapy. They were both hoping to get further guidance from the Citizens Advice Bureau but expressed doubts over what help they were likely to get from the States.

‘We need somewhere to sleep and somewhere to socialise,’ Miss Eborall said. ‘If I take someone to my house, my landlord has a go.’