Petition to relocate Llanelli rehab charity Chooselife

There are concerns for children walking to school

A community group has called for an already established drugs and alcohol rehabilitation charity to be relocated away from a new school.

Chooselife has had a drop-in centre on Copperworks Road, Llanelli for 20 years, while Ysgol Pen Rhos is due to open in the spring.

A Safer Communities Action Group said the locations were "incompatible".

It presented a petition to Carmarthenshire council on Wednesday calling for the charity to be moved.

Full council voted unanimously to refer it to the executive board for consideration.

Alan Andrews, the founder and chief executive of Chooselife, said he understood the concerns, but accused the group of "stirring up" the community.

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The 178-signature petition called on the council to "exercise its paramount duty" to safeguard children by relocating Chooselife to alternative accommodation.

It said the location of the drop-in centre was "dangerous as hundreds of children will be walking along Copperworks Road".

It added one of the facilities "must move" and due to the investment already committed to the school, it "must be Chooselife".

Mr Andrews said the centre was "run very well with a lot of boundaries", and anyone acting inappropriately would not be allowed to return.

"No communities are left unaffected by drugs," he said, adding the group wanted to "go back 30 to 40 years when the area didn't have a drug problem".

Chooselife helps around 300 people a year and currently houses 23 people who would otherwise be homeless

Mr Andrews said he had received support from the police and had contacted the planners of the new school who said "they had no problem" with its proximity to Chooselife.

"We don't open until 10am, so all the children will already be in school by then," he added.

The Glanymor and Tyisha Safer Communities Action Group was set up in 2005.

Addressing councillors on Wednesday, its chairman Vanessa Marsh, stressed they were seeking to relocate Chooselife, not close it.

She said it was "a road's width away from the new school", and when the school was occupied a high percentage of pupils would be walking past at least twice day.

She told councillors people had witnessed "drug dealing, violence and anti-social behaviour" from Chooselife clients "which is frightening for adults, let alone children".

She said "children could be harmed physically and mentally".

Ms Marsh added many of the pupils would be from Communities First areas, and "we feel they deserve the best education and safety".