‘Red light district’ turned squatter camp?
Last week, a party of three set up camp in the ignominious Paterson Street park, erecting a tent on a cold concrete slab.
There seems to be no shame in the ‘park of shame’.
Last week, a party of three set up camp in the ignominious Paterson Street park, erecting a tent on a cold concrete slab.
A resident with a distinct look of disgust on his face, scratched his head and left the clan’s new alleged turf, accustomed to all that makes the park notorious.
Officials within the Newcastle Municipality claimed they had not received any complaints regarding the matter of an alleged budding ‘squatter camp’ in the park.
It seems as though the women found greener pastures, leaving their temporary home after two days of lounging in the summer sun.
It is unclear whether the women are of the ‘daylight prostitutes’ occupying Paterson Street from dawn to dusk. The street’s dangerously tarnished reputation is one that will not easily be restored.
On September 3, 2014, an impressionable 10-year-old boy witnessed a reckless couple ‘fooling around’ while he played an innocent game of hide-and-seek. Nothing was left to the imagination.
Later that week, an employee of a business in Paterson Street was involved in an altercation with a prostitute. The employee claimed he was ‘fed up’ with having to clean up used condoms from his employer’s premises every day.
Newcastle police said they could not make any arrests unless there was solid evidence.
In the coming weeks, municipal officials claimed fencing would be considered. Mayor Afzul Rehman also suggested CCTV cameras be installed in the vicinity to create a platform to ‘name and shame’ perpetrators.
A rumoured collusion between police and the municipality sparked a glimmer of hope among residents.
Police spokesperson, Captain Shooz Magudulela quickly put the brakes on any expectation of a future relationship between the two powerhouses, stating the park was the sole responsibility of the municipality.
In the final edition of the Newcastle Advertiser of 2014, Cllr Rehman vowed to make the ‘park of shame’ his personal project.
With the proposed installation of CCTV cameras on the agenda, it is only a matter of time before the park’s resurgence might be set in motion.
The countdown to better days has finally begun.
