Agenda item

Presentation by Ben Haddock, Community Reps

Ben Haddock, Project Manager, Community Reps, presented the Committee with the following information in relation to the Lenton Triangle/Drives survey carried out by the group:

(a)  Community Reps is a group of students creating positive change in Nottingham to improve the relationship between students and non-students. They find out local problems and help residents to do something about them;

(b)  during Autumn 2013 the group visited 246 houses in the Lenton area to ask their views on the local area. 142 responses were received. Of those that responded 84% were students and 16% were non-students;

(c)  the key problems identified were:

·  anti-social behaviour and noise (identified by 22% of students and 75% of non-students);

·  bins and litter (identified by 8% of students and 15% of non-students);

·  crime (identified by 25% of students and 10% of non-students);

·  other problems such as parking, roads and traffic (40%), landlords and estate agents (20%), buses and taxis (13%), animals (7%) and not specified (20%) (identified by 10% of students and 15% of non-students);

(d)  more detailed information is included on the online problem map www.communityreps.co.uk;

(e)  students and non-students were asked how they saw their relationship:

·  1.5% thought it was excellent;

·  13.1% thought it was good;

·  13.8% thought it was ok;

·  66.2% thought they had no relationship;

·  1.5% thought it was poor;

·  1.5% thought it was bad;

·  2.3% thought it was awful;

(f)  how students saw their relationship with non-students:

·  0.8% thought it was excellent;

·  12.5% thought it was good;

·  10.7% thought it was ok;

·  71.4% thought they had no relationship;

·  1.8% thought it was bad;

·  0.9% thought it was bad;

·  1.8% thought it was awful;

(g)  how non-students saw their relationship with students:

·  5.9% thought it was excellent;

·  11.8% thought it was good;

·  29.4% thought it was ok;

·  35.3% thought they had no relationship;

·  0% thought it was poor;

·  11.8% thought it was bad;

·  5.9% thought it was awful;

(h)  students liked their local area because of:

·  the student community (54%);

·  the good location (43.7%);

·  the local shops (18.4%);

·  the transport links (5.8%);

(i)  non-students liked their local area because of:

·  the good location (40%);

·  the local shops (20%);

·  it being a nice area (20%);

·  a sense of community (15%);

(j)  towards the end of the year a pilot scheme for Street Reps will be launched. Street Reps are student volunteers who will:

·  visit neighbours on their street at regular intervals throughout the year;

·  collect information on any local issues and signpost advice where appropriate;

·  remind students to be conscientious of others;

·  act as a representative for their student neighbours.

If the pilot is successful it is hoped that it can be launched as a permanent project in 2015.

During discussion the Committee and others in attendance made the following comments:

(k)  it would be helpful to find a consensus between students and residents on what is an acceptable noise level. Noise causes the biggest disturbance to residents Sunday to Thursday evenings due to getting up for work or taking their children the school;

(l)  some of the buses serving the student population in the area are no longer operating but there still appears to be fewer cars parked which could be as a result of students having to pay for parking permits;

(m)  students often suffer from unfair criticism as a result of irresponsible landlords clearing their houses during the summer vacation period and leaving a mess;

(n)  it is important to try and learn what will encourage students to engage more with residents.

RESOLVED to thank Ben for his presentation and note the information provided.