Badger Hill residents lash out at students
A petition by the Badger Hill Action Group (BHAG) sent to 565 home owners was returned with over 500 signatures protesting against the letting out of family homes as student accommodation in an estate situated nearby campus.
In the petition, handed to the York Council planning head, Mike Slater, the BHAG demand that the Council use its planning powers to limit the amount of houses let privately estate.
One Badger Hill resident, Paul Hobman, claimed that up to 1 in 5 houses on his road are student homes. This, Hobman says, “is changing the whole make-up of the area”.
The second concern addressed by the petition was the negative effects on local shops and primary schools of fewer families living in the area. One reader of The York Press feared that “with laughing and shouting in the early hours, unkempt gardens, and washing left hanging to dry in windows” the estate is turning into “a ghetto”.
Student Union President, Rich Croker said that “the University is incredibly small and students are well spread around the city.”
Badger Hill residents were unimpressed; one reader describing Croker’s remark as “nothing short of a joke.”
Malcolm Dewhirst, organizer of the BHAG petition, expressed fears that “if the University is allowed to expand, it will get even worse”. Plans for the Heslington East campus expansion would bring a further 5,400 students to York.
Grace Fletcher-Hall, SU Policy and Campaigns Officer noted the problem of many anti Heslington-East campaigners promoting “the idea that students are this rowdy, anti-social rabble” to further their own agendas.
As part of their campaign, the Badger Hill Action Group is also urging residents all over York to take action through legal channels to protest against student housing.
Dewhirst commented: “Anyone with access to the internet can view planning applications online. If any residents detects applications which seem to be for student accommodation, they should tell their neighbours and object to the council”.
York St John University has also experienced similar complaints regarding the student housing on Navigation road.
In fact, York as a city makes substantial gains from the presence of students. A recent study shows that the entire student population will be contributing approximately £74 million to the city’s economy in the coming year, forming a large part of the local economy. Of this, £25.5 million comes from housing rents paid by students living in the private sector.
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heidi
i am a mother/student wanting to move to the Badgerhill area as the school is close by, but the properties i have looked at can only be afforded by 4 students sharing and not for familys! 275pounds a week!!