Bulletin No. 5, May 2019

From Andrew Waller

Hello again. Welcome to recent joiners—this list has now crossed the 200 mark!

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The main news in this edition is that the police will run extra patrols targeted at night-time student noise on eight dates from June 5. “Operation Beech” is funded by the University of Bristol and will focus on noise hotspots such as Chandos and Manor Park. I also report on big parties in Rokeby and St Ronan’s Avenues that showed we need better responses from the authorities. Read on!

To download the flyer as a PDF go here. Please pass details to your neighbours!

This is billed as a trial run, modelled on “Operation Oak”, based in Newcastle. Lynn Robinson, UoB’s deputy registrar, said in March that, if successful, it may be rolled out more broadly in October, at the start of academic 2019-20.

Patrols will operate on eight nights (June 5-8 and 12-15) from 8pm to 2am in an area (see map) bounded by Chandos, Hampton, Trelawney/Cotham Park roads and Redland Grove, plus some other hotspots: Ashgrove Road, Manor Park, Highbury Villas, Eaton Crescent and Arlington Villas. Residents are given a number to text if they experience house parties or street disturbances believed to involve UoB students. The number is 07773 816 248.

Kudos to Chandos Neighbourhood Association for pushing UoB to do this.

 My comments:

• This trial is a modest step but potentially a significant moment. By funding patrols, UoB is effectively conceding that the community deserves a more effective response to student noise—and that UoB should pay towards it.

• It may be a significant moment for policing, too. One hopes residents will get chance to comment on the results of the trial, potentially opening up a discussion with the police about how they respond to student parties.

• The current police position is they don’t have powers to deal with noise. I dispute that: They have powers under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. At the March meeting of the Chandos association, I expressed scepticism that the trial would achieve much if the police stick to their current template. Events at Rokeby and St Ronan’s (see below) reinforce my view. But, OK, let’s wait to see what happens …
   
• To ensure a decent trial, do text the number if you’re disturbed by noise. I suggest you keep it short and begin with the address—eg, “xx Chandos Rd: large house party, John”, or “Hampton Rd, near petrol station: noisy group on street, heading north, Julia”. I don’t think you need wait for parties to breach UoB’s guidelines (quiet by 10pm on weekdays, midnight on Fri/Sat).
   

• If you report an incident, please let me know, then or subsequently. That way we can build an overall picture of what the trial had to deal with. And if you have comments on the operation, now or later, I’ll be glad to hear them.

I’m very happy to receive suggestions about what is or isn't on the website, directions to take, or simply articles for publication. Anyone who wants to help is welcome to get in touch with me at thenoisepages@gmail.com

Rokeby & St Ronan’s: A Study in Failing Official Responses

These two events are significant because the authorities were engaged with the respective student households before the parties took place—but they went ahead anyway, causing disturbance and distress to many residents.

• Rokeby Avenue, 15/16 Feb, 11pm-6am, 150+ guests. The students notified their plans to residents several days earlier. Residents, a local councillor, UoB, the police, and the council’s Neighbourhood Enforcement Team all contacted the students with warnings or advice. The NET is said to have served a “pre-emptive abatement notice” (I have so far not been able to get the council’s confirmation—see below) but there was no sign of an NET presence on the night. Police attended the event at about 2am and asked for the noise to be turned down. It was, for a while. Full report here.

• St Ronan’s Avenue, 11/12 May, 11pm to 7am, 120 guests. No prior notice, but an immediate neighbour had complained about these students some months before, and both the Neighbourhood Enforcement Team and UoB had been in contact with them. The neighbour was given an NET out-of-hours number to call if there were further problems. He did so, but got no reply—NET officers are apparently on duty on only two nights in every 14. Police attended at about 2-15am and asked the doormen to stop people leaving the house and congregating in the street. Report. (As you might guess, UoB has declined to discipline the 120 guests even though their names were known.)

What do we conclude?

• Official efforts by the authorities (UoB, council, police) failed to protect residents from sleep deprivation and distress.

• The council’s noise enforcers were not present at either event.

• The police attended both—but their interventions were marginal. In both cases, the disturbances continued for several more hours.

• Whatever it is that UoB tells its students, either in briefings before they “live out” or in response to residents’ complaints, clearly lacks deterrent value.

To be fair, UoB has disciplined both sets of students, though as usual it declines to say what penalties were imposed (probably, fines). The reason given is “data privacy”. Since no one has asked them to identify the students concerned, this is a misuse of privacy rules, in my view.

After Rokeby, I emailed the NET and asked what action, if any, had been taken in the aftermath of the event. This request was rebuffed, also on data-privacy grounds. I suggest the public have a right to know whether the public services they pay for are taking appropriate action in situations like this. I have therefore submitted questions to the council under the Freedom of Information Act, seeking to establish what was done before, during and after these two events. See my letter here.

I have previously tried to ask the police why they aren’t using their powers under the ASB 2014 act. My email conversation with our local inspector, previously referred to, went nowhere even though I provided details from Durham police about how they respond to student parties. I have suggested to Chandos Neighbourhood Association that we should challenge this failure to use ASB powers. Perhaps the time to do so will be after the Operation Beech trial has concluded.

Any lawyers out there?

As you can see, pushing for effective action is very much an argument about the availability of legal remedies and the authorities’ willingness, or not, to use them—and indeed their use of concepts such as data privacy to fend off questions. If any of you have a background in law and would like to help, please get in touch at thenoisepages@gmail.com. Besides ASB, there’s noise legislation, housing law (HMOs) and licensing law (which I believe is defeated because the use of doormen and guest lists makes these parties private events).

Daytime Parties

At this time of year, students may hold parties in the gardens of their houses. Neighbours may be more tolerant of daytime events, but listening to thudding beat music for hours isn’t fun. Often there’s also a lot of shouting. UoB rules are clear: “Excessive noise that causes a disturbance to other residents at any time of day or night” is grounds for disciplinary action. So, if it gets out of hand, complain. Contact details here.

Now here’s a thought: UoB’s response to night-time parties doesn’t kick in until the next day. That’s presumably because university staff aren’t reachable at night and don’t see the complaints until they arrive at their offices. What would happen if they received a daytime complaint during office hours, when someone was available to contact the students, or even go to the property, while the event was in progress? Would they do so? How would they justify not doing so? Would there be a more immediate result?

In other words, is their usual after-the-fact response due to some legal impediment in the rules, or, as I suspect, mainly a matter of the clock and practicalities? If the latter, those obstacles could surely be ironed out relatively cheaply, enabling the university itself to intervene at parties, day or night, as I suggested some time ago.

What Can You Do?

• Complain! The universities are sensitive to the number of complaints they get, so it’s essential feedback. If you think the people making noise are students, but are not sure, or don’t known which uni they are with, then email both UoB and UWE and ask if they have students living at that address. See contact details here. (Please copy me in.)

• Let me know which street you live in (number not necessary), so I have a network I can tap by email if I seek information about a noise event.
   
• Encourage friends or neighbours to sign up to this newsletter!

Finally, Looking Ahead ….

I committed to running The Noise Pages for at least a full academic year. We are now nearly at the end of the year, and only just starting to see the possible fruition of an idea (Operation Beech) discussed last July. That’s how long it takes to get things done. In the hope that Beech represents progress, and may be followed up in October, I expect to be doing this at least until the end of 2019. In any event, I expect to be writing again in July or August, by which time we should have UoB’s complaints statistics for the full academic year, and some evaluation of how Operation Beech performed.

Thanks for reading. ‘Bye for now, Andrew

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