Latest news with #GeorgeStreet
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Closure in place at Stroud town centre road
A CLOSURE will be in place at a Stroud town centre road. George Street will be shut tomorrow, Sunday, June 1 due to works by Wales & West. The full road closure will be in place from 8.30am to midnight, with the works being in Gloucestershire County Council's red zone, meaning delays are likely.
CTV News
6 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
Dismantled ByWard Market encampment highlights need for housing, advocates say
A new encampment in the ByWard Market has a local councillor calling for long-term strategies from the city and the Salvation Army. CTV's Katie Griffin reports. A small encampment in the ByWard Market that was dismantled Friday is highlighting the urgent need for housing and permanent solutions to a growing crisis in Ottawa and across the province. Three tents were set up on a median on George Street between Cumberland and Dalhousie streets across from the Salvation Army. 'They've been there, I believe, since Wednesday last week and the encampment has grown,' said Rideau-Vanier Coun. Stephanie Plante. Plante spoke with those living in the tents and says they're clients of the Salvation Army. George Street encampment Three tents have popped up on the median across from the Salvation Army on George Street. (Katie Griffin/CTV News Ottawa) The encampment was taken down on Friday, but Plante says action should have been taken sooner. 'Our dismantle policy at the city is to be offered housing but that doesn't stop the Salvation Army from asking them to leave as well,' she said. Encampment dsimantled Workers dismantle a tent encampment on George Street in Ottawa's ByWard Market. May 30, 2025. (Andrew Adlington/CTV News Ottawa) The Salvation Army says it shares Plante's concerns about people living in tents. 'The Salvation Army's Outreach and Housing Services program operates 24/7 across Ottawa, and we have recently expanded staffing specifically to enhance our presence in the downtown core and ByWard Market,' it said in a statement. It went on to say the 'outreach team remains in daily contact with those sheltering in tents to offer support, service navigation, and, where possible, connections to housing.' On Thursday, groups including the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa and Encampment Justice Coalition rallied at Ottawa City Hall against a provincial bill that would crack down on encampments and public drug use. 'Where do we expect people to go? There's no place safe if they are using to use, with the closure of the supervised injection sites,' said Kaite Burkholder Harris, the executive director of the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa. 'And just as much as I realize the intention of these bills, none of this is going to help people. It's going to displace people and the 'problem', and a lot of people are going to be harmed by it.' Alta Vista Coun. Marty Carr says there are encampments in almost every ward. 'It is a lack of investment that has happened in housing and mental health and treatment for many, many years,' Carr said. 'This is a public health crisis as much as it is a homelessness crisis.' The city says those living in encampments are offered 'shelter services, health and social supports, and assistance in securing safe, stable housing.' 'The decision to dismantle an encampment is only made once all efforts to support the person have been exhausted,' said Kale Brown, the interim director of Housing and Homelessness Services. Plante says long-term solutions are urgently needed. 'Nothing that's happening right now is not solvable. But it just goes to show that we need all levels of government to really, really prioritize housing and whatever budgets they're putting forward on this file.'
RNZ News
27-05-2025
- RNZ News
Blocked fire exits could see central Dunedin bar's licence suspended
Fire exits at the Bog Irish Bar in central Dunedin were still blocked after a warning. Photo: Google Maps The operators of a popular Dunedin bar who may have their licence suspended over blocked fire exits say it has been a profound wake up call. A Fire and Emergency inspector found two of the three fire exits at The Bog Irish Bar on George Street were padlocked shut and duty managers did not know about the bar's evacuation scheme when he visited last month after a public tipoff. FENZ inspector and community risk manager James Knapp asked for them to be unlocked immediately. before emailing and hand-delivering a letter the next day to tell Gurbani Club Limited - which operates the bar - that they were breaching fire regulations and what they needed to do to comply. But police found the fire exits were still blocked when they visited later that week. It prompted Fire and Emergency to lodge an application with the District Licensing Committee to suspend the bar's on-licence, which allows them to sell alcohol and allow people to drink there. The committee met on Tuesday to discuss the possible suspension. During his evidence, James Knapp said staff told him that one of the exit points was locked to prevent underage people from coming into the bar, which he said was not an acceptable explanation and raised more concerns. The bar operators had failed to comply by not maintaining a way for patrons to escape from fire and training staff to help evacuate the building, and that would likely put people in danger, Knapp said He was also concerned that he did not get a response until after the application to suspend their licence was made. Knapp has since returned to The Bog, and said their evacuation trials were satisfactory and they were now compliant, but he was concerned there was not enough security staff. One of the exits had been partially blocked by a table but he said that could have been put there by a patron. Gurbani Club Limited directors Jasleen Saluja and Karandeep Singh offered their apologies to the committee, and said they had already made changes. Singh said this should never have happened and he cut an overseas trip for ear surgery short because he wanted to address this. He described it as a "profound wake up call" and they would be working to rebuild trust and welcomed more inspections The manager responsible had been suspended for three months and would be getting retraining, while the rest of the staff would be getting refresher training every three months instead of the usual six months, he said. The locks had been changed to ensure they were compliant and they also had more security staff on duty, Singh said. Committee chair Colin Weatherall asked how long before the bar would be fully compliant. "It already is," Singh said. Weatherall urged them to abide by their commitments, and said that the committee would scrutinise their licence when it next came under review to ensure they were following the rules. Saluja said they had explained to staff that the fire exit on the side should not be locked and had taken disciplinary action when they found out that their instructions were not being followed. They had missed the email from Fire and Emergency because it had gone to their spam folder, she said. After hearing about the changes, Knapp said a licence suspension might no longer be necessary if the committee directed the owner to pass a random inspection and show its training and trial evacuations. The committee is expected to release its decision next week. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
CTV News
12-05-2025
- Automotive
- CTV News
Disappearing road markings in Ottawa. Councillor raises concerns about paint for road lanes, intersections
Faded paint at the intersection of Sussex Drive and George Street. An Ottawa councillor says new requirements for road paints has resulted in faded lines. (Josh Pringle/CTV News Ottawa)
