Vulnerable homeless people were evicted from hotels in Cornwall to make way for police and government officials present G7 summit this week, a local charity claims.
Disc Newquay has said that many people who lived in hotel rooms on rolling short-term contracts during the pandemic have been asked to go to a luxury hotel in Carbis Bay ahead of the summit of the world’s seven largest advanced economies.
“Most of the hotel accommodations from Bodmin down are for that G7“Said Monique Collins, the charity’s manager. “We got people in hotels in Camborne, Redruth, Truro, St Austell and Newquay – and they all moved out.”
Collins said the hundreds of summit bookings put pressure on the county shelters for the homeless, leaving many people with even fewer options. However, the Cornwall County Council blamed the tourist season for the lack of temporary housing.
Police have booked more than 4,000 rooms in nearly 200 venues in Devon and Cornwall. The Cabinet Office, which has also made hundreds of room bookings, said it only booked commercially available rooms.
According to the disc, around 130 homeless people had been deported from hotels to make room for paying guests. Seven had to leave the Sandy Lodge Hotel in Newquay on May 24th to house some of the 5,000 police officers drafted from outside Cornwall. Some have been moved to other hotels only to be moved again.
Diane Perry, 56, had to leave Sandy Lodge for another hotel in Newquay. But she was and was relocated again on May 28th sleep in her car – crammed with their belongings – ever since. “It got me a little confused,” she said. “It’s annoying – I have to live in my damn car.”
Perry, who was provided with cooking and washing facilities by Disc, who grew up in Cornwall, said she was told she may have to move out of the county. “The Council doesn’t seem to care about me,” she said. “They said I might have to leave the district. But I’m not going – I’m Cornish. “
Collins said that Perry’s mental health has worsened since she lost her room: “It’s inhuman that she has to live in a car – it’s just not right. But she is one of many who were expelled because of the G7. “
Another homeless woman suffering from schizophrenia was left with her belongings in black garbage bags on the side of the road after being told to leave Sandy Lodge. Her mother Claire, who did not want her full name to be used, said she was eventually placed in an unsuitable surf hostel in town with communal washing facilities.
“Usually she sits very quietly in her own room. But she’s on the main street in the middle of the summer season now. The hostel is full of drunk surfers and vacationers. She’s scared – she thinks people are coming to get her, ”she said. “You haven’t even given her a safe place. She was treated abysmally. “
She blames the G7 for her daughter’s predicament: “What gives them the right to force vulnerable adults out of their homes?”
Peter Butterly, the owner of Sandy Lodge, said the G7 organizers reserved all 79 rooms at the hotel last year before the council booked the rooms. “When we took the booking from the community, we said we could accommodate them [the homeless] until May 24th, ”he said. “We understand that everything is police.”
Nine out of ten homeless people who stay in a hotel in St. Austell are said to have been moved out by the council before the summit. Six homeless people are also said to have been evicted from the Camborne hotel by the city council.
The Cornwall Council said in a statement that the demand for housing was not the result of the G7 summit. “It’s a seasonal problem that has been exacerbated by the extraordinary number of people we are supporting due to the pandemic. We continue to support those affected and the vast majority were immediately offered alternative accommodation. ”It added that some of the affected homeless have chosen not to take advantage of the available alternatives.
The council said it was unable to secure long-term bookings as the emergency shelters were unsafe and temporary. “The competition from the vacation market at this time of year means there is very limited availability to meet the needs of homeless households,” the company said, adding that it is investing £ 40 million in homeless shelters and has acquired more than 100 properties to date have.
The police and the cabinet were asked to comment.
