An administrator from the district will meet with concerned local residents next Wednesday to ‘answer their questions, discuss concerns and inform them in more detail about further planning and steps surrounding the arrival of the drop-in center’, says a spokesperson.
The building on Spinozastraat, an old bicycle shed at Weesperplein metro station, is now empty. From spring onwards, homeless people and addicts can go there during the day for a meal, to shower and for clean clothing. There will also be a user area. Sleeping is not allowed there, people are referred to other places for that.
The building will be larger than the user bus, which can no longer keep up with demand. “This allows us to offer visitors a more humane environment, and the work for employees is clearer and easier to carry out,” said a spokesperson for the district.
Local residents fear more nuisance
According to the municipality, the new location will help to reduce nuisance to the neighborhood, but local residents that AT5 spoke to today are not convinced of this. They were informed a week ago about the arrival of the drop-in center and fear for the safety of their children playing outside, and streets with needles and feces. The municipality says “that is why it is now having discussions with the residents involved. There will be an information meeting in January, where we will explain the plans and there will be room for questions.”
The user bus at Oosterpark was visited more than 1,300 times by 139 addicts between August 15 and October 14. In the summer, the number of addicts passing by peaked, meaning that the bus could no longer cope with demand and nuisance in the neighborhood increased again.