Resident starts website against nuisance parties
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The students were spilled out onto the street shouting and screaming with loud music coming from the house and disturbing most of the street.
ABRISTOL man is documenting his and his neighbours’ noise complaints against students in response to a perceived increase of loud partying in his area.
Redland resident Andrew Waller launched the Noise Pages website after noticing a rise in noisy student parties during the past five years.
The website includes reports from Mr Waller and other residents detailing allegedly raucous parties in the neighbourhood.
Having their address published on the site will strike fear in some University of Bristol students, who could be fined £100 for keeping their neighbours awake – although there are reports having your address on the site has becoming something of a badge of honour.
Students now sign a contract agreeing to ‘disciplinary regulations’ when they enrol at the university.
Each student living in a property could be fined £100 and repeat offending properties could be charged up to £250.
Since launching his website in March, Mr Waller – a former journalist – has already collated dozens of noise reports.
“When I went to remonstrate with the students, they were very in-my-face,” he told the Guardian newspaper.
“They knew they were breaking the university’s rules, and they were happy to tell me they didn’t
Redland residentf
care. They actually turned the music up.
“They will frequently tell me: ‘This is a student area – you shouldn’t be surprised that we’re noisy’,” he says. “Sometimes they’ll go a step further and say: ‘Well, if noise bothers you, why don’t you move?’
“I would actually prefer to have students in the community,” he says, “just with a better set of rules.”
He writes on his website: “We should acknowledge that most students do not annoy their neighbours. But the minority who do is fairly sizeable, and it’s a bit of a lottery as to whether they end up living in your street. I imagine some residents are serially lucky and wonder what the fuss is about; others are less fortunate.
“Late-night parties are only part of the picture; students making their way home from the pubs and clubs are another source of disturbance. I believe these problems are getting worse.”
A report from a neighbour on a party in Brighton Road on Halloween reads: “The students were spilled out onto the street shouting and screaming with loud music coming from the house and disturbing most of the street.
“They were asked by several of my neighbours to go inside, which they would do briefly before continuing outside again.
“I had to shout at two students who decided to urinate over the wall into my front garden – they were so drunk they couldn’t even work out where the voice was coming from.
“This morning I had to sluice vomit from my front path. I have lived in this street for 10 years and have never previously complained, viewing the occasional noisy party [as] perfectly reasonable. This year however, the frequency and noise of parties in this road has been intolerable and the associated bad behaviour really grim.”
One University of Bristol student - who lives in Redland - said: “I feel the Noise Pages is not only unnecessary but also counterproductive. It damages dialogue between students and the wider community, and makes students reluctant to communicate with neighbours.
She added: “Students want to find a solution but the Noise Pages is only exacerbating the situation.”