After an assault at their premises on Cheltenham High Street, popular student pub 'Frog and Fiddle' was closed 2 weeks ago. Though we might think of this as an awful one-off incident, the people in Cheltenham have been growing more and more immune to this type of crime - and no area is more affected than St Paul's.
Whether residents are unhappy with parking, noise in the early hours of the morning or rubbish overflowing onto its narrow pavements, all these issues are a part of living in St Paul's.
Only 7.35% of crimes have gone to court, and 2.94% of those have been dealt with by the police.
The student-filled district faces problems right on their doorstep every day and it is struggling from a serious lack of care and investment.
As a result, there are a number of disagreements, and both of these parties just want one thing - to live in a safe and happy environment.
Noise
If you're in a university town, there is bound to be a bit of noise, and its fair share of complaints. House parties are just one example.
Experts say rows are increasing each year, with rising house prices possibly to blame as more people live in cramped spaces, and nearly one in five have called the police and contacted the council.
“I was annoyed because the people I was living with didn’t bother to inform the neighbours beforehand and I didn’t want to be implicated into something I wasn’t involved in. I thought it was ridiculous because I wasn’t aware they were being that loud so I thought it was unfair. The neighbours snitching to the landlord made it even more annoying – they should have just knocked on our door and let us know.”
“It was rude because we warned everyone we were going to have a party. They don’t warn us when they do.”
Brian Burrows, has lived in the area for all of his life. He lives next door to a house of 5 students.
"They don't know how to go out and come home in the early hours. There's girls screaming and the chaps chanting. They come home any time in between Midnight and 4'o'clock and I'm woken up from sleeping.
"I have no problem with parties. But, they don't know how to turn it down."
Brian thinks St Paul's has "been turned around over the last 10 years". When he has felt the need to contact someone, Joey Bowden, has been his saviour. Joey is the University of Gloucestershire’s Housing Support and Community Coordinator, and Brian says that she has reassured him that whatever problem he has, it can be fixed.
This year, the Housing Support team has received 10 complaints in total from St Paul's residents. She believes that the university and local groups have worked hard to form a relationship over the years, and in doing so, they have to bear in mind that: "If issues arise, local residents can trust that we will deal with the matter to the best of our ability and that we take our responsibility to the local community, of which we are a part of, seriously."
Litter
Overflowing bins, fly-tipping, and littering the streets, are all concerns for Cheltenham. Even with organised cleans and environmental schemes in place, the problem is still right in front of us.
Veronica Kavanagh, has been involved with the St Paul's Road Association group since it started in 2008. She attends the university meetings which are held three times a year to talk about any concerns the community has, hosted by Stewart Dove, Head of Student Services.
Veronica thinks litter has and always will be a problem: "That is because of the way that the recycling and the green bins are picked up and every week we have it because of the students."
"This old lady across the street from us takes her litter picker and throws all the rubbish her student neighbors have left back over the fence. I've only seen her do it a couple of times."
Georgina Woodward, 21, Business Computing student at the University of Gloucestershire
"What is a student house without rodent corpses and condiment stains? When I was at uni we had a problem because the house wheelie bin was too small for 5 people - so it caused an issue with rubbish. It meant we had a small infestation of rodents in the back yard. Funnily enough the neighbors weren't too happy. So, we started putting the excess rubbish into their bins which they also weren't happy about!"
Tom Clarke, 23, Radio Production graduate
Cheltenham Borough Council are continuing to work alongside Gloucestershire Police, the Environment Agency and the DVLA to keep it under control, by volunteers sweeping our roads and removing the mass of litter on a daily basis.
Offences
From October last year to now, in St Paul's and Pittville, there has been 409 cases of antisocial behaviour crimes. Out of all of the crime reported, only 7.35% of crimes were sent to court, and 2.94% were dealt with by the police.
Cllr Jonny Brownsteen says there is a ‘tendency’ to say while the students are causing all this trouble, when you look at the numbers, you’re talking about four instances.
“I haven’t personally witnessed anything that supports the level of criticism the student body receives.”
Veronica also acknowledges this as she agrees that there is an assumption that because it is a student town, the problem will be associated with the student community.
"When you look at antisocial behaviour, that is not always the students. We have a big problem in our own community with our own people and different places too that have troubled youngsters as well. I've been down here 50 years and we've always had antisocial behaviour in our own community. That has never gone away and people tend to blame the students where it isn't always their fault."
Parking
Permits are available for each household, but as they don't guarantee a dedicated parking space, most residents still have trouble parking directly outside their own house. This is a major cause of conflict in St Pauls, where there is no off the road parking, and many houses rented to students have at least five adult residents, and often more.
"Our neighbours would deliberately park in awkward places to stop us from parking. When my boyfriend used to visit, they would watch him park and approach him and say 'you do realise this is private parking.' They sucked."
"I got threatened by a guy on Manser Street with a baseball bat, saying he would beat me and my boyfriend's car up because I parked near his house."
Holly Harden-Sweetnam, 20, Magazine Journalism and Production student
What next?
Each year, along with meetings with the SPRA, the Housing Support and Community team at the University sends a letter to all registered properties to outline their responsibility to the local community and actions that would be taken if complaints are received. Joey Bowden added: "We also outline this in our Student Charter and Code of Conduct that all students agree to when enrolling with the University. Additional messages are also sent out throughout the year to both tenants and landlords."
The former chair of the St Paul's Road Association says "Before the SPRA, we couldn't get in to the university to talk about problems, you could only talk to individuals. That's why I'm a representative - to talk to the university, and Stewart Dove. We have meetings three times a year with their team, and the police come along, and we discuss ways in how we can handle these things. "
So with representatives of the student and local community getting together for regular meetings to discuss the issues that are the major causes of conflict, maybe both parties can learn to live in harmony.
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