Students: New action plan to boost neighbour relations

Release Date: 01-Jul-2008

Bristol City Council is working closely with the city’s universities and student leaders to help students coming to Bristol integrate better into their new local neighbourhoods.

Bristol’s students contribute over £600 million to the city’s economy, enliven its vibrant culture and give up over 100,000 hours in community service to help local people - while the universities they attend play a major part in raising educational standards and attracting employers and visitors.

However, in some neighbourhoods the high student population presents particular challenges, such as the demand for parking space; issues with recycling and rubbish collection and occasional noise disturbance.

Now the council has worked with the universities and student representatives to draw up an action plan they believe will benefit both students and other residents in the affected areas.

" Bristol City Council is proud that the city is a great educational centre but, with thousands of students often living in densely populated areas, there are inevitable challenges. We must work with the universities, the students themselves and the rest of the community to ensure these areas have the right kind of services from the city council and to encourage good neighbour relations," said Councillor Judith Price, Cabinet Member for Homes and Streetscene.

The council, universities, police, students unions and private landlords will all be involved in the delivery of the action plan, which will include the following steps:

Information on how students can best recycle and dispose of rubbish to continue to be made widely available, including at student fairs, through publications and on the internet;
Students to be actively involved in the consultation around residential parking;
Universities and the council to work together to provide information to students about public transport, cycling and walking - and to be encouraged not to drive to university;
The council to monitor areas where there are large numbers of complaints about noise and to leaflet households to help address the problem;
Safer Bristol to continue to keep students informed of the dangers of crime and help them protect their property;
Universities to continue to provide guidance to students on how to show consideration to other residents in the areas where they live.

Councillor Price added: "Students living together in large numbers may need extra services - for example, they might need more or different kinds of waste and recycling facilities or particular advice on how to manage it in a shared house. We hope this action plan, with its range of support and advice for students and other residents, will help create better neighbourhoods for everyone living in those areas with a high student population."

Student leaders welcome partnership working

Tobin Webb, President of the Students’ Union at Bristol University, said: " We have worked with the city council to understand the particular services and support that might be put in place to help students make the most out of their time in Bristol and ensure they fit smoothly into the local community. We will continue to work closely with the city council on this issue in the future.

" Students at Bristol University contribute actively to the community in which they live. Over 100,000 hours of voluntary community action was clocked up last year alone.

" We actively encourage more environmentally friendly activities, whether cycling or re-cycling. The University has set up a community liaison group that meets to discuss issues of mutual concern and we are already contributing to additional rubbish collections and seeking to improve the services provided."

Dom Passfield, Student Union President at the University of the West of England, said: " Students contribute some £600m to the local economy of Bristol with many of them choosing to stay, live and contribute to the success of the city. On top of which, many hundreds of students volunteer to help and run local community projects, including mentoring for pupils and providing teaching support to schools in the region.

" Recent moves to create a new student village on the Frenchay Campus have alleviated the pressures of accommodation in Bristol and the University has instigated a number of initiatives to support local residents. These include a U-Link bus service for Bristol residents, helplines, preventing and resolving problems.

" With many of our own students and staff living and working in Bristol, we understand the issues and we are keen to work with the local council to create better neighbourhoods."

Author: Catherine Frankpitt/Vicky O'Loughlin

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