LETTER: Will United Front lead to action on homelessness?

As a local resident living in central Chesterfield, almost every day I see these (mainly young) people gathering in groups or huddled in sheltered places trying to get some sleep.

My first instinct on seeing them is to despise them. They are dirty, unsightly, noisy and intimidating and I just want them off our streets.

But then I have to reflect that these people are not ‘The Children of the Abyss’ and this town is not the East End of Victorian London. Chesterfield is a relatively prosperous town in the fifth richest country on earth and even in times of austerity there is much we can do to stop the rot of homelessness and vagrancy from destroying the lives of our young people.

I do hope that these ‘United Front’ meetings do not turn into expensive pot-boilers where nothing gets done, resulting in a few pages of ‘conclusions’ giving reasons why nothing can be done for the people they were supposed to help, the homeless.

Eric Taylor

By email