People who live near the University of West of England campus in Filton are bracing themselves for the return of students, with residents claiming rubbish regularly piles up outside houses in multiple occupation (HMOs).
Residents of areas such as Cheswick Village, Scholars Chase and Stoke Park say they are trapped in an endless cycle; waste overflows from bins or is simply dumped on the street, often attracting vermin, a series of complaints follows and the mess is eventually cleared.
Now, locals are calling for a co-ordinated approach from UWE, South Gloucestershire Council and Bristol City Council to try to stop the problem happening in the first place.
“They need to work together and get a proper solution or get some extra manpower to clear the bins and waste because that is the main issue here,” Srini Boinapally, chairman of the Stoke Park and Cheswick Parish Council said.
“Even last year, we proposed that we were going to put extra bins out at a cost to our parish, but we didn’t get permission from South Gloucestershire Council.”
“So we are trying (on) our side where we can, but unfortunately, you know the people who are supposed to work from South Gloucestershire and also Bristol City Council, UWE, they are not doing their proper jobs. If you speak to any resident, they will say the same thing, I believe.
“(They should be) adding extra bins or stricter rules for the HMOs, but we can’t do anything because they’ve already got a licence. But as I say, adding extra bins or monitoring some of these HMOs with the local estate agents would help as well.”
The student population in Bristol has exploded over the last twenty years; over 30,000 people are enrolled at the University of Bristol, while UWE has more than 38,000 full-time students. They support the city’s economy by spending money on housing, food, transport, leisure, and educational supplies, but also place a strain on local services — including bin collections.
Rubbish regularly piles up outside student houses(Image: Supplied)
Mr Boinapally said blame for the problems didn’t necessarily lay at the feet of students, many of whom he said tried to do the right thing. Oli, who lived in Cheswick Village for a year while studying at UWE, said issues arose due to insufficient amounts of bins being allocated to HMOs and collections in South Gloucestershire only happening every three weeks.
“I lived in a house of 6 students, we only had 2 black bins,” he said.
“It’s no wonder these are overflowing by the end of 3 weeks with the amount of people living in many of these houses, especially during the end of terms when people are moving house and doing larger cleans.
“This is much more of an issue recently; when I first moved into the area, the black bins were taken every two weeks, (even) when it was this frequent they would often still be completely full.
“As well as this, there were numerous occasions where the bins were just not taken, this just amplified the issue massively, as now you had 6 weeks (worth) of six people’s rubbish, going off and trying to fit it into two bins.
“With the proximity to the woods, if any scent of food was left on any packaging, foxes would be out of the woods immediately making a huge mess of the area, this isn’t anyone’s fault but just increases the issues with the bins in that area.”
Another problem is lax management from some private landlords. Several residents told Bristol Live that the quality of landlords varied massively in their area, with some keeping a close eye on their tenants and others not being at all interested in how a property was being maintained. A spokesperson for UWE said they were working with councils and landlords, along with going directly to students to remind them of their responsibilities.
A UWE spokesperson said they were working to improve the situation(Image: Supplied)
“We are working closely with partners including Bristol Council and South Gloucestershire Council’s waste and environment teams and letting agents to resolve this issue,” the spokesperson said.
“The university has developed a joint action plan with partners to ensure a collective and accountable response to this issue affecting our local community. We have been providing updates to residents on a weekly basis to keep them informed on progress relating to key issues.
“We also provide our students with information and advice on how to look after their environment and be considerate neighbours when living in private accommodation. A number of student ambassadors will be visiting students’ homes at the start of term to promote responsible behaviours around waste management.”
One student called for more bins to be allocated to HMOs(Image: Supplied)
Sejal Hampson, who lives in BS16, has been waging a war on the university and councils for over five years. For her, the time has arrived for actions to match words.
“What is particularly frustrating is that everyone seems to recognise that there is a problem, yet nobody appears willing to take responsibility for breaking the cycle,” she said. “Students move out, waste is left behind, residents complain, the councils respond, and then the next academic year arrives and the process starts again.
“UWE, South Gloucestershire Council and Bristol City Council all have important roles to play here. Residents are not asking for special treatment or for students to be blamed. We are asking for those organisations to work together on a proper preventative strategy, enforce the rules that already exist, and recognise the impact this recurring cycle is having on established communities.”
Last year, UWE appointed a dedicated community liaison, partly to address concerns around waste management in HMOs. A spokesperson for South Gloucestershire also said the local authority was taking the matter seriously, but conceded there was room for improvement.
“We continue to investigate reports of waste-related issues and respond to requests for information, while recognising that these challenges are not unique to South Gloucestershire and require ongoing effort due to the annual turnover of students,” the SGC spokesperson said.
“While there is more work to do, we remain committed to working with UWE Bristol, landlords, managing agents, residents and neighbouring authorities to minimise impacts and deliver sustained improvements for local communities.”
Bristol City Council was approached for comment.