THE MAN who launched a petition calling for the city to provide a year-round homeless shelter has told the council “the will of the people is there” to act.

Campaigner John Hadman has gathered close to 10,000 signatures across two petitions calling for a permanent answer to rough sleeping in the city.

His petition, originally submitted to full council last month, will be considered by the powerful policy, resources and growth committee this week.

The officers’ recommendation is that the committee “note” the petition, but Mr Hadman has insisted more could and should be done.

He told The Argus: “The first petition I had took 19 weeks and I got 4,100 signatures.

“The second took six weeks to get five and a half thousand signatures.

“So the will of the people of the city is there, to open a night shelter all year round and it’s up to the council to find the venue and the money.”

After a search of almost a year, the council identified a room in the council-owned Brighton Centre to act as a winter night shelter for the homeless.

It opened on December10 and closed on March 10, with two short hiatuses when it had to relocate to a nearby church due to other bookings.

The shelter operated from 7pm until 8am each day, and unlike at the emergency bad weather weather accommodation the council provides when it gets dangerously cold, the people who stayed were allowed to leave their belongings inside if they will be returning.

Some of the centre’s clients stayed through the entire duration of its operation.

If a rough sleeper needed a bed and there was one available, he or she was allocated a bed after a recommendation from an outreach worker.

Around £165,000 has been allocated for rough sleeping next winter, but there is no guarantee the night shelter will be replicated like for like.

Discussing a year-round shelter council leader Councillor Warren Morgan told The Argus: “You have to weigh up what kind of demand there is in the city, and absolutely we should be housing the people who have a local connection.

“Equally, if people are coming into the city from elsewhere, if it’s appropriate we should be looking at reconnecting them with support services in their own locality, unless they’ve fled domestic violence or other issues.”