Hoping the party’s over
Outcry over students’ late-night noise, drunkeness and mess
BRUNEL University students have caused upset in Uxbridge with their partying and behaviour off campus.
Chiltern View Residents’ Association say they are “sick and tired” of noise and drunkenness and the final straw was a 100-strong party that took two police squad cars to disperse revellers, who left balloons and laughing gas canisters littered on the street.
Jo Walker, chairman of the residents’ association said the blame lays with irresponsible landlords, especially in Chiltern View Road.
She said: “There’s a lot of noise and mess, you’ve got people letting small semi-detached houses into multi-occupancy dwellings.
“Not a family who’s staying there and caring for the property, it’s a constant merry-go-round of young, irresponsible people.
“It’s making the street like a slum because we’ve got four properties with students in them them. People can’t keep being kept up at night when they’ve got to go to work and have canisters on the pavement when people are taking their children to school.”
The property in which the controversial party took place was marketed b by Gibbs Gillespie estate agents, although they confirmed the actual managing of the property is the responsibility of the landlord.
Sarah Cleverley, Gibbs Gillespie’s Uxbridge Lettings Manager, said: “Although we do not currently manage this property we take our responsibilities to our landlords, tenants and residents very seriously.
“We apologise for any distress and inconvenience caused to local people by this incident.
“We are working with the landlord, Brunel University and the students who rent the property to find out exactly what happened and to ensure it does not happen again.”
Ms Walker added: “You can’t stop people buying houses and converting them but I think landlords should be aware of their responsibilities and their contractual obligations then it’s down to him to keep the place properly maintained.”
Brunel’s Community Liaison Officer has since visited Ms Walker and says the students were given a formal warning, while the council removed furniture that had been lingering outside for a month.
Problems with students going to and from clubs in Uxbridge town centre are still an ongoing issue, especially for an upset elderly woman on Whitehall Road.
She told the Gazette: “We’re just sick of it, we want it back as it was, peace and quiet. They go to a place called Liquid in Uxbridge, which is half price drinks or so I’ve been told by the student union.”
Drunk students coming back from nights out use Whitehall Road as a shortcut from the nightclub back to the campus, and their rowdy behaviour along the way is said to include jumping on cars and urinating outside houses.
The woman added: “We try to keep it nice down here. We have clean windows, white front doors, and it’s just an absolute nightmare to us.”
A Brunel spokesman said: “The university takes its responsibilities as a good neighbour very seriously and investigates all incidents reported to it via community-liaison@ brunel.ac.uk or on 01895 267686.”