First things first... (From York Press)

First things first...

11:50am Tuesday 5th March 2013 in Letters By Reader's letter

MY SUGGESTION for housing the homeless (Letters, February 19) didn’t go down well.

I suppose the former council offices in St Leonard’s Place are deemed too good for them; or perhaps our “Fairness Commission” has decided that the relatively rich deserve temporary accommodation more than do the absolutely poor.

I admire the Big Issue vendors. They brave all weathers, and are always courteous and cheerful, even when, in my haste, I can afford them no more than a nod.

For the past two years, I have been privileged to be an occasional customer of one such whose pitch is in Parliament Street.

Last week he told me he had found a home and possessed his own key at last. He seemed delighted. I was thankful for him, and grateful that my widower’s micro-mite had been of service.

The danger is that we might complacently believe that good intentions can solve what is a huge and dispiriting problem.

It can be tackled effectively only at council and government level. By all means let us provide hotels for the five-star rich; but first things first.

William Dixon Smith Welland Rise, Acomb, York.