CUP FINAL HOMELESS LOCKDOWN
AS FOUR-DAY CHAMPIONS LEAGUE CELEBRATION GETS UNDER WAY, POLICE TELL ROUGH SLEEPERS THEY’RE NOT WELCOME IN THE CITY
HOMELESS people have been ordered out of Cardiff city centre ahead of the Champions League final.
Several people living on the streets of the capital said police officers had told them to leave the city or potentially face arrest as the build-up continues for the clash between Juventus and Real Madrid tomorrow.
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to visit Cardiff in the next few days, some fear the move is “brushing under the carpet” the issue of homelessness in the city.
Scott Morgan, 37, from Cwmbran, said: “I think it’s disgusting.
“Yet again they are treating the homeless like scum and that we need to be hidden away. They are ashamed of us.
“It’s really insulting that people don’t want us in the city centre.”
South Wales Police said anyone behaving anti-socially or causing harassment to others could be asked to leave the area for up to 48 hours under dispersal powers.
One Cardiff family who often provide homeless people with food said they were “disgusted” by the approach after speaking to one man on Wednesday afternoon.
Inaara Alibhai, from Adamsdown, 13, said: “Me and my mum and my brother and sister were walking towards Cardiff Central station.
“We normally stop and help the regulars and give them some money and some food.
“One man was telling us that the police had told him they wanted all the homeless people out of the city.
“He didn’t know what to do. They were just going to push them out.
“I was quite disgusted. It was upsetting and it made me angry.
“Think about yourself in that situation. We are supposed to feel proud about the city, but I don’t know.
“He said that the police had told him that they have to get out of Cardiff, just for the Champions League.
“It deserves to be talked about and not just swept under the carpet.”
South Wales Police said previously the security operation around the final as “unprecedented” and 6,000 officers will patrol the streets in the week of the event.
Inaara’s mum, Elizabeth Cannon, 38, from Adamsdown, said: “It’s disgusting. I work at the stadium so I understand that it’s a
major sporting event. But it’s not making their situation any easier at all.
“It’s all just for the aesthetics. It’s a football match, but you don’t have to treat people like that.”
The mum of three added: “We have a home. If someone told me that we had to leave with little notice even we would struggle.
“What people don’t realise is that the majority of us are one wage away from being homeless. It’s just shipping them out for a few days.”
One man, who has been homeless for two years, feels the move is to please the thousands of visitors heading into the city over the coming days.
Ian Jones, 34, from the Rhondda Valley, said: “The police told us that we have to be out of the city as soon as we can.
“They want us out for the days of the football.
“We have got nowhere to go. It’s bad for kicking us out and it’s bad for the city.
“They are doing it just to brush us under the carpet. They want us out of the way so visitors don’t realise how big the problem is.”
Officers could tell people to leave a certain area under Section 35 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.
The section allows police to order people to leave a certain area for no more than 48 hours to stop any antisocial behaviour or crime.
Failure to comply is a criminal offence and doing so could see people landed with a fine or imprisonment of up to three months, according to the Crown Prosecution Service.
Stuart Davies, 35, from Brynmawr, said: “I have been told that I’m not allowed in the city centre from tomorrow until Monday.
“If I’m caught they said they would give me a Section 35 and they’ll put me in jail.
“It’s wrong really. I’m homeless but I live here. They are chucking me out of my home. “There’s nowhere to go.” Lee Jakes, 25, from Oxford, said: “They have told us that we are not allowed in the city centre.
“I don’t have a clue where I’m supposed to go. I understand that they have security problems, but it’s upsetting. “We are people, we are human.” On the day of the final, 2,000 officers will be on patrol in the city, including armed officers, and facial recognition technology will monitor people in and around the city centre.
Vicky Berry, 29, from Pontypridd, said: “I’ve been told that I have to move on, and that we have to go for four days and we are not allowed in.
“I do understand that with everything going on there is a security problem, but chucking homeless people out isn’t the right thing to do.
“I haven’t got a clue what I’m going to do.”
A South Wales Police spokesman said: “A dedicated team of police officers regularly patrol the city centre ensuring people who live, work and visit are able to go about their business without being affected by crime or anti-social behaviour.
“Anyone who is behaving antisocially or causing harassment to others may be asked to leave the locality under Section 35 of the AntiSocial Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.
“The number of police officers patrolling the city centre over the next few days has been increased in order to manage the significant volumes of people expected and each of those officers has the mandate to utilise these powers.”
CARDIFF’S newest major road will open for the first time this weekend – but only to coaches carrying Champions League fans.
The opening of the £57m new section of the Eastern Bay Link road between the A4243 and Rover Way is one of a raft of visible changes taking place across the city ahead of tomorrow’s showpiece final.
In addition to the “ring of steel” security measures put in place around the National Stadium of Wales – which has been renamed from the Principality Stadium for the occasion – the Welsh capital yesterday saw a new footbridge appear and a massive campsite spring up.
The temporary opening of the new link road was confirmed as the Welsh Government estimated 1,250 coaches would use it over the Champions League final weekend. The road will then open by mid-June. It is estimated that the new section will cut 2.5km off some journeys and ease traffic on city-centre routes.
The road has two lanes in each direction, as well as a combined cycle lane and footpath.
The cost of the road rocketed to £57m during construction.
There were delays as changes were made to the layout, and also so the Welsh Government could secure necessary land permission.
The original 180m bridge was going to be built on embankments but had to be extended to 670m in total.
A new park and ride has been built for the Champions League at Llanwern, Newport, and the coaches will use the new road.
The park-and-ride facility has a 4,000 capacity and it is hoped will help ease the congestion on the M4 and the main roads into Cardiff.
The cost is £10 per car and can be booked via www.uclf17parking.co.uk/ car-parks
Meanwhile, anyone enjoying a walk or bike ride around the city’s Pontcanna Fields will have noticed a village of tents – including some very plush examples – popping up.
Camp Cardiff has been set up for an influx of visitors coming to the capital for the clash between Juventus and Real Madrid, and sees pre-pitched tents, pod
hotels and glamping tipis available for rent.
Prices range from £300 for two adults in a basic pre-pitched tent, to £960 for a two-person “pop-up hotel room”.
They come with their own bedding and air beds in the tents.
Sizes of the tents vary from twoand four-person to eight-person.
There’s also the luxury village with bell tents, proper beds and a pamper room.
The site has 24-hour security, onsite food vendors, toilets and showers and phone-charging points.
Camp Cardiff is about a 25-minute walk from the stadium.
And a new temporary footbridge built for this weekend – linking Bute Park to just outside the stadium – was completed yesterday.
The footbridge in Castle Street was finished in the early hours of yesterday.
The thoroughfare was closed to people and vehicles for more than seven hours on Wednesday so the work could go ahead.