Vagrants occupy storm-damaged Ansteys building
They come and sleep here and during the night, go into the area and get up to no good.
EMPTY and abandoned buildings are not only an eyesore but also attract vagrants who claim the space as their home.
Ansteys Beach on the Bluff is beset with vagrants who have occupied a 2017 storm-damaged building which has only been partially repaired.
The building housed a staff lunch room, storage area and changeroom section for the beach municipal staff.
Andy Rossell from the Brighton Beach CPF has promised that raids will be carried out at the building, as it is believed the same vagrants carry out some of the crimes locally. “They come and sleep here and during the night, go into the area and get up to no good. We have caught some vagrants with drugs such as weed and heroin. This is a new problem that has been brought to my attention and I feel this building needs to be finished and secured to prevent any vagrants from sleeping there,” he said.
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Ward 66 councillor JP Prinsloo said the building in question was supposed to be repaired months ago after it was damaged during the severe storm of October 2017. Various site meetings and engagements were held between the city’s coastal and stormwater management department and the parks department to restore the structure.
After funding was made available by the city, some repairs were conducted but the building was never completed. Now the Bluff community has a half-built structure on one of its main beaches, which attracts a criminal element as a result.
“Through the joint efforts of my office, Andy Rossell Bluff CPF chairman and the Community Orientated Policing (COP) we are determined to address this issue by holding the city accountable to complete the structure on Anstey’s Beach and assisting SAPS in keeping our beaches safe,” said Cllr Prinsloo.
