23.11.12

One in every eight noise complaints the Council has received in the last year concerned student areas.

Information obtained by the Yorkshire Evening Post through the Freedom of Information Act cited loud music as the main cause for complaint, accounting for 70 per cent of the calls to the Environmental Protection team.

Community and Housing Policy Office, Amanda Jackson, told Leeds Student: “There’s this massive misconception that Hyde Park is a student area, but believe you me, there are very few streets where you can’t find permanent residents, families, elderly people.”

“It’s a very diverse community…we get about around 100 complaints a year for noise on average, with 300 total complaints to the Leeds Universities and Colleges Neighbourhood Helpline (LUCNH). [Students] forget how
much noise they’re actually creating.”

Police Liaison Officer at Leeds University Union (LUU), Matt Guy, explains the basic problems: “One of the issues is the low quality housing and the lack of insulation in those areas. Also students are up later and have different ideas about socialising.”

“Residents expect people to go out on Friday and Saturday nights but students are out on Wednesdays and Thursdays and it hits them mid-week.”

The police reassured Leeds Student: “We are working with the University and the community to address this issue and we’ve had a positive reaction from this.”

The University’s procedure for dealing with noisy students is first to send them a letter before visiting them if they persist. Should the problem continue, noisy students are then invited to a meeting and in the worst cases are then referred to a panel which decides whether or not they can continue to study at the University.

LUU’s Community Officer, Ben Fisher, warned students that the University “may take action against you if you bring into question [its] reputation and cause constant distress to your neighbours.”

Words: Ellie Parkes