‘Labour camp’ fears for former social club
Neighbours complain workers are living in building
Claims the former Ingleneuk social club in Halfway is being used to wrongly house workers are being investigated by South Lanarkshire Council.
The local authority confirmed this week it has received complaints the Wellside Drive building is being let to multiple people and that a nearby area has become a ‘drinking and drug den’.
A spokesman for the council said it was looking into claims made in two letters addressed to South Lanarkshire Council and the Rutherglen Reformer.
Sent anonymously by concerned residents, one letter states: “Since we last wrote to SLC about our concerns, something has become worryingly apparent. We wrote saying it now appeared to be being used as a house in multiple occupation ( HMO), but further to that, it now appears to be being used as workers’ accommodation.
“Two large vans appear every morning and collect a number of people and then drop them off again in the evening.
“Whether these workers are legal or illegal is anyone’s guess, but it now appears we have a labour camp on our back door step.”
A second letter adds: “We’ve had many problems with noise and anti-social behaviour with this property in the past few years.
“Residents in the past have used over the wooden fence to the left of the property as a drinking and drug den. We’ve found syringes in our gardens.
“It’s also being used as outdoor toilet, which is disgusting.”
The Ingleneuk was closed as a social club several years ago and sold.
As of November 2008, it was a registered business premise for Sidhu Enterprises Ltd, which is a listed company at Companies House.
Manjit Kaur, a director of that business, recently listed herself as the owner of 22 Wellside Drive when she applied to South Lanarkshire Council for a landlord’s license for the property.
That will not be issued until South Lanarkshire Council completes its investigations into claims made about the use of the property.
Daniel Lowe, executive director of housing and technical resources, said: “The council can confirm that an application for landlord registration has been received in respect of the property at 22 Wellside Drive, Halfway, and is being assessed by the council’s landlord registration team.
“In light of concerns which have been raised with the council regarding the use of this property, investigations are underway through various sections, following which any appropriate action will be taken.
“No previous concerns of anti-social behaviour have been raised with the council’s antisocial behaviour investigation team, however, if residents have any concerns in relation to antisocial behaviour, they should contact the council’s anti-social behaviour hotline on 0800 389 1105 or Police Scotland on 101”.
The Reformer made several attempts to contact Sidhu Enterprises Limited but all telephone calls were left unanswered. Attempts to contact Sam’s Spick and Span Cleaning Services, which lists its address as 22 Wellside Drive, were also unsuccessful.