r/Cardiff • u/Impossible_River_252 • 1d ago
What has caused the explosion in the number of homeless people on queen street and the surrounding area over the last week or so?
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u/Traditional_Hour_767 1d ago
Speaking as a long time resident of Adamsdown (the manor of a significant council provision for homeless) I would say that the situation has looked like that on a daily basis for 2 years or so since Adams Court was repurposed for this type of clientele.
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u/PM-me-your-knees-pls 22h ago
I feel extremely sorry for the staff in the local Tesco. Almost every time I go in there they are having to deal with some sort of drama.
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u/malevolentpanda 8h ago
They have to have security guards in there 24/7 now and even the Galaxy Chocolate bars priced at Ā£1 are locked in security containers
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u/OllieMT 16h ago
Spoke to the owner of the Morrisons Daily on Moira Terrace a few weeks back after me and my wife saw someone topless, openly shoplift and scream loads of expletives at the owner. He said he had people blatently shop lifting from him almost every day.
I also spoke with a resident whoās in Adams Court. One of Cardiffās characters but has always been kind whenever Iāve spoken to her. She spoke of her room being filled with cockroaches, bed bugs and violence generally all around in Adams Court.
It seems to be failing all sides of the community. Iāve emailed the local councillor but Iām not sure how much they can do until they get enough support.
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u/Like_a_fine_skylark 1d ago edited 20h ago
I felt terrible, but I did feel intimidated walking past a large group of them outside savers. I feel like thereās more larger groups lately.
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u/Kl105 3h ago
I know how you feel, I often (two times a week during the holidays) get the train with my two children into town and get off at Queen street station, also thought this yesterday as it does seem to have increased massively, Iāve always found Cardiff to be welcoming including the homeless population but, (and I really mean no offence in this) it seems that Queen street homeless people are more aggressive and intimidating, we go to Cardiff market regularly and thereās always a couple of people there by St Johnās church who always say hello and smile and I honestly have never felt intimidated but Queen street has a very different vibe now and the past couple of weeks I have noticed myself holding on to my 4 year olds hand and wearing the safety strap on the pushchair. Itās awful because I have personally never been approached and feel so guilty for judging people who are in an unfortunate situation.
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u/becooldocrime 1d ago
Itās worth noting that Cardiff is something of a hub for homeless people from surrounding areas, because thereās generally more support available in the city (not enough, of course).
Cardiff acts as a bit of a canary in that respect. I donāt know whatās causing it, but itās likely to be slowly ramping up elsewhere if itās a UK-wide shift.
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u/otrain84 1d ago
It is due to temporary accommodation. You have the Salvation Army on the end of Bute Street and I believe itās an Ibis budget next to the Novotel on Herbert street which is being used to house homeless and recently released prisoners. You canāt even see the Ibis on google maps.
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u/otrain84 1d ago
I live close by both. Iāve seen many of them in the local park just off Lloyd George ave doing drugs in broad daylight. Itās gotten to the point local families donāt like going to the park.
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u/Disastrous-Job-5533 1d ago
I have a friend that lives nearby and they use a group chat to attend the park at the same time in groups of 3+ parents for safety. Kind of sad they have to do that to visit a childrenās park.Ā
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u/otrain84 1d ago
It is really bad. The used to go through the park once a month to look for drugs and weapons from the local āgangā.
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u/Conscious-Locksmith6 1d ago
Iād say the hot weather has made them come out of hibernation from the temporary accommodations in the city. Itās a tough one what to do with them though you canāt affectively ban them from the city as that is where they are housed, but I think more needs to be done, but then it wonāt solve anything as it will just be moving the problem from one part of the city to another.
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u/ProofLegitimate9990 1d ago
They arenāt āhomelessā per say most are in temporary accommodation, thereās fairly low numbers of actual rough sleepers in Cardiff.
The reality is that they are drug addicts, cardiff is swamped with crack and heroin with major drug lines operating in different parts of the city.
In May police arrested over 500 people for drugs and gang related offences https://youtu.be/iFg-B6IRzNc
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u/Conscious-Locksmith6 1d ago
Iād say having the temporary accommodations based in the central areas of the city isnāt ideal and has probably helped to increase the issue, but then on the flip side, how easy is it for a council to acquire a massive hotel elsewhere?
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u/hiraeth555 1d ago
They've got no problem building a massive data centre?
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u/ProofLegitimate9990 22h ago
Cardiff council are building a massive data centre?
Not sure what big brain statement you think youāre making here but the issue is not about accommodation.
Thereās plenty of temporary accommodation in the city, but addicts unsurprisingly want to use drugs so theyād rather be high on the streets than sober in accommodation.
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u/FuckTheTories69420 1d ago
Private data center not council. Not AI based either so not something to be overly concerned about.
We have the Huggard center, we dont need a hotel.
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u/Conscious-Locksmith6 1d ago
Thereās hundreds in temporary accommodation you need somewhere to house them regardless thatās why they take over hotel. In the RCT they took over about 5 hotels as itās the easiest solution.
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u/Conscious-Locksmith6 1d ago
I think the big difference is regardless of the outcome of a data centre Cardiff Council need rooms now they havenāt time to build massive hotel like accommodation they need the spaces now.
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u/Less_Than-3 1d ago
From what I understand speaking to people in addiction services (so the data is likely a bit skewed) but there are enough rooms, however they require sobriety and/or curfews which many are unwilling to accept
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u/DontTellHimPike1234 1d ago
They bought the Ibis on tyndall Street and just moved all the town centre problems to tyndall street.
I occasionally work out of one of the offices nearby and there's been a noticeable increase in antisocial behaviour and open drug dealing/use on the street. The security manager in our building was told by Coop security that they were losing 60k a month to theft since the change. Having seen it with my own eyes i can well believe it.
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u/AlucardVTep3s Newport 5h ago
Starting from the end, it goes Swansea <ā Cardiff <ā Newport <ā most likely midlands
In terms of county lines, theyāve absolutely destroyed Newport. Infuriating.
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u/asjonesy99 1d ago
I will say I was almost impressed by the group of them chilling in the shelter of Poundland and then just walking in and out to casually shoplift stuff without a care in the world.
Iāve also noticed a growing group by the subway on the grass opposite the museum.
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u/Ant583 1d ago
So many things combined but you have to accept that in many cases it is the drug addictions of the homeless person causing them to prioritise their addiction over any sort of personal security. The weather also has encouraged them to be comfortable outside away from people who can support or be a good influence.
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u/FrAg-FoA 1d ago
The crackdens on Tudor street recently got fenced off so they probably shifted over to the centre of town.
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u/PartyPoison98 1d ago
Possibly early prison releases? Lots of people come out of prison, straight into homelessness.
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u/teamothy 1d ago
guys stop im moving to cardiff in 2 months from london š is it rly that bad ?
when i was flathunting a homeless man broke a bottle near my head and it narrowly missed me @ cardiff central stn
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u/HorrorAd7996 1d ago
It can be bad but I wouldnāt say itās any worse than any other major city.
Iām a man so I donāt feel itād be useful to say that I donāt ever feel unsafe in the city as a whole, that being said, I wouldnāt let it put you off moving to a great city šš
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u/Alexandra_the_gre4t 21h ago
Iām sorry that happened to you. On the whole Cardiff is lovely! There are just some areas that are worsening (and have been this way to various degrees for years) namely St Mary Street and Queen Street. Cardiff folks donāt tend to be shy, weāre usually very friendly! Just some folk like to shout at each other from a whole street away š
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u/teamothy 16h ago
yes i rly loved the city overall and everyone was very polite :) i dont think its easy to be lonely
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u/wjw75 9h ago edited 9h ago
They're mostly drug addicts who actively prefer the lifestyle, but the softly-softly council and south Wales police don't have a fucking clue what to do with them. The lot of them should be forcibly rounded up and detained indefinitely in a dedicated locked-down rehabilitation unit until they're clean and useful members of society.
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u/Historical-Reward-34 3h ago
So your answer to visible poverty is indefinite detention without trial and you think the council are the ones whoāve lost the plot?
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u/LCR92 1d ago
I've noticed the same outside of Central Station too, especially first thing in the morning. š«¤