Liaison with Oxford Brookes University
Brookes University Issues
Brookes dates: Term starts Monday 20 September 2010.
Community Relations :
Noise: DRARA has been involved in supporting a neighbour, Dr. Roger Teichmann, who lives in Howard Street which does not have a residents’ association. He has been suffering from repeated and excessive noise made by the Brookes students next door. His distressing experiences have been discussed at the East Area Parliament, which is investigating them further, and have been reported in the Oxford Mail and on Oxford Radio.
Brookes say that they have imposed “penalties” on the offending students. These are: a Personal Behaviour Order that requires them to cause no disturbance to neighbours after 11.30pm , and a suspended fine of £100 which is only to be paid if there is a further breach of student conduct regulations.
In short, no penalties have been imposed at all, which is entirely consistent with Brookes’s sustained failure to discipline its students. The vice-chancellor recently stated that during the last ten years there have been only four disciplinary investigations into student behaviour, and in no cases have penalties been imposed. DRARA are wondering whether we might obtain more effective redress by complaining about ant-social behaviour directly to the police and the city council rather than to Brookes.
A recent Brookes brochure Oxford Brookes Students (Feb.2010) states: “We recognize that there are “hot spots” and there are three key issues that keep recurring: noise, parking and rubbish. We are working with Thames Valley Police to support Police Community Support Officers focused on areas where we find the most complaints; we are undertaking litter patrols and working to remind our students of the importance of being a good neighbour.
Students in halls are not allowed cars. However, we are no longer allowed to check vehicle ownership through the DVLA. We support controlled parking zones as the only enforceable way to limit cars in private roads.
As our students are adults, the university does not and cannot act in loco parentis.”
Should you have any concerns please contact Andrea Siret, the Customer Relationship Manager at Brookes, on 01865 48445 or community@brookes.ac.uk.
It is not all bad news- Elizabeth Mills reports that she has some physiotherapy students next door who are absolutely lovely neighbours. They are very considerate and keep her well informed about any party plans etc.
The two Police Community Support Officers funded by Brookes were due to start in April, but did not do so.
Sinnet Court:
There has been an increase in the number of complaints about the behaviour of students from Sinnet Court, particularly on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Our local PCSO Mark Jones, whose area includes lower Southfield Road, is doing his best to address the problem. The mains issues are associated with heavy drinking at night, and include noise, vandalism, and vomiting and urinating. The problems are being raised at the Neighbourhood Action Group and at the Councillors liaison meeting with Brookes.
For incidents which require immediate action call the duty warden on 07786 962 015. If you are reporting an incident the following day contact the Sinnet Court manager, Amanda Green, on 202377 or amanda.green@A2dominion.co.uk.
Student Accommodation, HMOs and planning:
Oxford is fortunate to have the benefits of two universities, which are both large employers, and which make an important cultural, educational and economic contribution to the life of the city and the county. But we feel there is a good case for the Universities and the City Council to take a more balanced approach to the accommodation of students. The quality of life of permanent residents, who have a long term interest in the community, is seriously undermined by a large transient population of students. Residents’ associations in East Oxford are repeatedly discussing the same problems, year after year, which are the result of the high number and concentration of Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMOs), most of which are occupied by students. Parking problems, noise, rubbish, petty vandalism, anti-social behaviour, squalid houses, concreted–over front gardens, overgrown rear gardens, lack of neighbourliness, the housing shortage, the use of first homes for families as second homes for students,- these are all problems directly caused by the a large transient student population.
These problems are so serious, in Oxford and many other university towns, that the planning laws have recently been changed. The issues are receiving considerable coverage in the media, including the national press. The Observer (23 May 2010) reported:
Studentification has “become a major concern for many residents, who have long complained about the rowdiness, litter and noise they associate with large student communities in some parts of the city.”
“A lot of local residents have been quite alarmed about how studentification has affected their community,” admitted Ian Wright, Oxford City Council’s health development service manager. “We know it’s been one of the top topics on the doorstep for local councillors.”
The Observer then continued to describe the change in the law which enables councils to license all properties that are occupied by three or more unrelated people. The City Council consultation, due to end in June, is expected to back the Council’s proposal to introduce citywide licensing for all such properties. According to government statistics, Oxford has the 14th highest number of HMOs in England and Wales, with one in five residents living in such a property.
The Oxford Times (27 May 2010) also reported on the issue. There are more than 4,000 HMOs in the city. Ian Wright “estimated the council received 6,000 complaints a year connected to HMOs, either from tenants unhappy with living conditions or from neighbours angered by problems such as noise or rubbish.”
It is hoped that the better regulation of HMOs will improve the appearance and safety of the properties, and perhaps lead to a reduction in the amount of rubbish in the gardens.
However, although the politicians like to blame “rogue landlords” for the problems caused by HMOs, tighter licensing and regulation can only tackle part of the problem. It is not the landlords who cause the parking congestion, the excessive noise, the anti-social behaviour and the litter in the streets- it is the tenants, many of whom are Brookes students.
The central problem is a planning issue- there are too many HMOs, and they are concentrated in too small a space. Planning permission is now required for the conversion of a residential house into a HMO and we hope that the Council will exercise this power to prevent any increase in the number of HMOs. It is also desirable that the number of HMOs should be reduced in many streets, which would be possible if the Universities took more responsibility for accommodating their own students. A small town the size of Oxford cannot accommodate an influx of over 30,000 students in residential areas without incurring enormous damage to the quality of life of the residents. The fact that a second university, Brookes, has been allowed to expand in a residential area represents a major failure of strategic planning.
In 2008/9 the number of Brookes students living in private rented housing was estimated at 3,765, well above the Oxford local plan target of 3,000. The number for Oxford University was about 3,600. Brookes is building more than 800 extra student bedrooms in purpose-built accommodation in an attempt to meet the City Council target.
79% of Brookes full time students are aged 18-24.
Ivon Asquith is the DRARA committee member responsible for liaison with Brookes, and would be glad to receive any comments and suggestions from DRARA members (ivon.asquith@btinternet.com; tel: 01865 249389).
