Concerns have been raised about anti-social behaviour and security at a shipping container site used to house homeless people in Reading.
Homeless people in the town have been living in shipping containers that have been converted into flats since November 2021.
The flats provide people with a single bed, a shower, a toilet and heating to serve as temporary accommodation ahead of more stable rehousing.
The containers, which provide 40 sleeping units, are located at the site in Abbatoirs Road and Caversham Road, near the Medusa Lodge gentlemen’s club and a railway bridge.
People in the accommodation are supported by Reading Borough Council and the homelessness charities Launchpad and St Mungos.
The containers were installed through temporary planning permission that lasted five years, with the council’s housing department wishing to extend it by 18 months.
Remarkably, the site is at risk of being unlawful as permission for its use was only granted on a temporary basis in September 2021, which expires this month.
The application to continue its use was discussed at the planning applications committee on September 9.
Alison Amoah, a principal planning officer, stated that two objections to the extension were submitted ahead of the closure of a public consultation on September 8, but were too late to feature in an updated report to the council’s committee.
Listing the concerns raised, she said: “The objections relate to a number of residential amenity matters including trespass, unauthorised entry, security problems, threatening behaviour, rubbish and other anti-social matters.”
There have been problems on the site before. Early in 2023, Darren Norgate, who was living there at the time, reported issues with water, heating and drainage.
Mrs Amoah stated the council’s planning team has been unable to properly assess the issues raised by the objectors, and therefore recommended deferring a decision on the extended use until the next planning meeting.
It was then acknowledged that the use of the site is at risk of being unauthorised.
Councillor James Moore (Liberal Democrats, Tilehurst) said: “If the permission expires before the next planning committee, how does that work, if we don’t do it now?
“I’m a bit confused about what the implications of that are.”
Dave Anthony, the council’s planning solicitor, answered: “When the permission expires, the planning permission is no longer there, that would mean that there would be a breach in planning control, however, planning enforcement action is only taken where the council believes it to be expedient, and usually, the attempt is made to resolve it peacefully, if you like, before taking enforcement action.
“One way that the enforcement team would look to see whether that is happening is whether an application has been put forward, so in usual situations it wouldn’t be expedient to take enforcement action if there is an active application being considered.
“But there would be a technical breach.”
Cllr Jan Gavin (Labour, Caversham) added: “Certainly, that’s been my experience. If there is an active planning application, then enforcement won’t get involved until that application is resolved, I think that’s our policy.”
Mr Anthony then said a Judicial Review could technically be brought against the council for usage of the site outside of planning permission.
However, cllr Gavin mentioned that the containers would only be used in an unauthorised manner for a matter of weeks, as the committee is set to meet again on October 7.
Councillors unanimously deferred a decision until the next meeting.
