Liverpool City Council is to set up a new severe weather shelter for people sleeping rough in the city centre this winter.
The local authority has submitted a planning application to establish the shelter on Camden Street, off London Road in a former dance studio.
The previous shelter, located at St Stephen’s Church, on Crown Street, has been sold for redevelopment but the new site is deemed a better location as it is based closer to the a range of other support services.
The new shelter will continue to be operated by The Whitechapel Centre and if planning is approved, it would be operational by mid-October.
Last winter the Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson changed the rules to increase the shelter’s operations by allowing it to open on any given night where the temperature is forecast to drop below 2°c (instead of three consecutive nights at below 0°c), and that policy will continue this winter.
Mayor Anderson, who is to publish an independent report into improving services for rough sleepers next week, says: “The relocation of Liverpool’s severe weather shelter has been on the cards for some time and this new location is a far better place as it is much closer to other support services in the city centre.
“The shelter plays a key role in helping us reach out to those who, for whatever their reasons, refuse to accept help.
“It was never open enough until I changed the weather trigger rule and this new location means our colleagues at The Whitechapel Centre will have a better connected platform to continue their excellent work.”
