Calls to resolve the ‘rising influx of students’ in city
Hundreds have signed a petition urging Bath and North East Somerset Council to address the “student crisis” in the city. The petition calls on the council to tackle problems caused by what it describes as “the ever increasing influx of students to Bath”. Joe Scofield, who lives in Twerton, has created a petition on the 38 Degrees campaign website to drum up support for his movement. In just a few days it has amassed 528 out of the targeted 600 signatures. The University of Bath and Bath Spa University are the two largest universities in the area and cater for thousands of students respectively. Mr Scofield claims his petition is not an attack on the students who attend these universities. Instead, it is a message to the council urging it to do something about the numbers of students in the city. He writes: “The council must either use the powers that it has, or lobby the government for greater powers to resolve these problems.” Twerton is used as a case in point throughout his petition, in which he outlines his reasoning. There are far too many homes being converted into houses of multiple occupancy (HMOS), Mr Scofield claims. He writes: “The result is a loss of housing suitable for families, as well as an upwards pressure on house prices for remaining residential homes. “It’s true that the council recently introduced a 10 per cent cap on the proportion of homes that can be turned into HMOS in any area. This is little solace for communities like Twerton where residents see family houses lost to HMOS sometimes on a weekly basis.” Twerton is situated on the western side of Bath and is a short distance from Bath Spa University. The University of Bath is on the other side of the city, close to Bathwick and the city centre. Mr Scofield continued: “Twerton is one area where we are witnessing a loss of family homes close to services such as nurseries and schools that were set up to support families. “It means that more and more families have to travel in to use those services as family homes are turned into accommodation for students who have no need for such services.” It’s not just the rise of HMOS that Mr Scofield takes issue with, however. He claims student blocks are making some parts of the city ‘ugly.’ He writes: “A second issue lies with the student blocks that arise wherever there is available space for development. “In Twerton the string of tall student blocks along the Lower Bristol Road is considered ugly and overpowering. “Residents feel angry that sites which could be developed for social or family housing, are prioritised towards students in the pursuit of greater profits. “Any council that has the interests of the people at heart should oppose this injustice.” It has had a few comments in the short period of time it has been online. Hayley J wrote: “I grew up in Bath but have been out priced due to property being purchased to house students.” A spokesman for Bath and North East Somerset Council: “The council will consider the petition, once submitted, in accordance with the council’s constitution.” The University of Bath says: “The University acknowledges the strength of feeling on this matter and appreciates that the creator of this petition recognises the contribution our students make to this city. Last year, our students spent more than 9,600 hours working for local charities and community projects - raising more than £132,000 with each student contributing £9,560 in extra value added in Bath & North East Somerset. “We have stabilised our undergraduate numbers and plans for the new School of Management building assume the number of undergraduate students will remain at the current level. We are planning a gradual growth in the numbers of postgraduate students and have invested £34.5 million to build additional accommodation on campus. This new development, Polden, will open in September, providing an additional 293 high quality bedrooms. This is in addition to the 2015 opening on campus of a £43 million, 708-bedroom student complex. “We have also recently launched new online postgraduate taught masters programmes expected to launch in 2019 which will enable us to offer courses remotely to students across the UK and internationally.”
Bath Spa University says:
“Bath Spa University recognises the challenges the city faces following the recent growth of the two universities, and we are keen to help alleviate these. “25 per cent of our students who study at our main campuses in Bath live outside the BA1 and BA2 postcodes. Of the remainder, more than 1,300 students live in university-provided accommodation, the majority of which is on our Newton Park campus, located outside the city centre. We have no plans to build any more student accommodation in central Bath. “As well as the contribution of our students to the life of the city, Bath Spa University itself pays business rates on both our Newton Park and Sion Hill campuses.”