Bristol Uni spent £4.6k in eight-day attempt to silence house parties

Renewed attempts to combat student noise will take place in September

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Data obtained by The Bristol Tab reveals that The University of Bristol spent £4,600 as part of an eight-day attempt to quash student noise disturbance.

The university have praised the success of the scheme, known as Operation Beech, and will be implementing one similar, this coming September.

Flyer for Operation Beech

Operation Beech took place towards the end of last term and involved police patrols in Redland between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m.

A meeting took place on 17th July involving members of the local community, and representatives of both UoB and UWE. The aim of the meeting was to assess the successes of Operation Beech as well as the general impact both universities had on the community.

Assessment of Operation Beech

Sergeant Jon Scott gave a report on Operation Beech in which he revealed that the patrol had attended 26 requests, on the whole receiving a positive response from both complaining residents and noisy students.

The area targeted by Operation Beech

The group suggested that the times of the patrol should start and finish later and that parties should be shut down completely.

Sergeant Scott made it clear that parties cannot always be shut down as putting large numbers of students out onto the street could be risky. In some situations , police will attempt to reduce noise disturbance by turning the music down, closing windows and doors, and keeping people inside.

Complaints made about UoB students

The meeting also revealed key statistics regarding complaints made by local residents about UoB students

In the academic year 2018/19 there were 237 complaints made to the university, down from 258 the year before. 205 of these were noise related and 141 resulted in either an email or a home visit.

10 households were fined up to £150 per person and 15 households were made to go on an awareness course costing £50 per person.

95 disciplinary meetings took place and 27 households had to write letters of apology.

A total of 1331 students were contacted, and although including students who were contacted more than once, this figure equates to seven per cent of the student body living outside of halls.

University Statement

A spokesperson for The University of Bristol said: "The University takes very seriously its responsibility to be a good neighbour and manage the impact of our students on the community. We acknowledge that public services are stretched, so where our students are causing distress to local residents, we should contribute to resourcing that management.

"The trial in June was designed to test systems and processes before it is rolled out in September – another time of year when there is a higher than normal number of student parties. Other similar operations are planned for peak times in 2020.

"The patrols attended a number of student properties each night. Most issues were resolved easily with a request to turn music down, a reminder to close doors and windows and for people to go inside. On several occasions, students were planning to go out and did so when approached by the patrol.

"There were no large-scale house parties, and, in a few cases, the Police found no evidence of noise disturbance at the addresses they’d been called to attend.

"Police reported that students responded politely and apologetically when approached."