| The number of tenants approaching Councillor Tom Ferguson about the problem has been so great he has recently established extra surgeries to deal with the issue.
Several residents who have discovered drug paraphernalia in and around their buildings have voiced their outrage in the Tele over the past few months.
And just last week a new team of police officers, known as the Community Engagement Team, was stationed in the area in an attempt to cut crime and tackle anti-social behaviour.
But Councillor Ferguson said he believed his ward needed continued attention if its drug problem was to be properly addressed.
“I was visiting tenants in the Ancrum Court multi last week and as I was going into the building I was approached by the caretaker, who showed me two used needles he had discovered on the stairs leading down to the cellar,” he said.
“Moves to tackle this problem on the part of the housing department have to be sustained.
“We can’t simply talk about the problem for a few weeks then run away from it.
“Having to be in amongst this is damaging the quality of life of the people living in these multis. I’m not sure that the people who use the multis to abuse drugs are even tenants there. That’s why security is obviously a concern, too.”
In addition to his extra surgeries, Councillor Ferguson said that his regular surgeries were frequently overrun with constituents worried about drug abusers.
He said he was particularly concerned that children living in the multis could come into contact with the drug paraphernalia discarded by addicts.
A young mother living in the Ancrum Court multis had previously expressed her disgust at addicts hurling used syringes onto the canopy above the building’s rear fire exit.
Councillor Ferguson said, “My Friday night surgery is like a doctor’s surgery at the moment. It starts at 5.15pm but often doesn’t end until after 7pm.
“I also have parents approaching me in the streets, concerned that their young children will come into contact with used needles.”
He added that he was appalled by the stark contrast in the constituency between local authority housing and that which is leased by private landlords.
“Compared to the multis, the flats owned by Abertay Housing on Coupar Angus Road are like palaces.
“A private landlord would be shot down if he let his buildings get into the state the multis are in,” he said. |
