Fears of ‘party time district’ after university licensing plan (From The Oxford Times)
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Fears of ‘party time district’ after university licensing plan
10:30am Thursday 20th October 2011 in News By Reg Little
Ken Lovesy and Margaret Conway outside Brookes University
OXFORD Brookes University has not given up on a licensing bid despite residents’ fears it would create “a party time district” in Headington.
The application – which would allow alcohol to be sold on the Gipsy Lane campus from 9am to 11.30pm seven days a week and the staging of outdoor music events – was due to go to the city council licensing committee this week.
To the fury of neighbours, the potential licence would also permit 12 events finishing at 2am along with two other all-night events at the university Gipsy Lane campus.
However it was withdrawn following an objection from local city councillor Joe McManners.
Dr McManners, councillor for the Churchill ward, said: “I was concerned that people had not been properly consulted.
“There needs to be serious consideration of the potential impact of late night activity in a residential area.”
However, Brookes says it will resubmit the Gipsy Lane licence application, to avoid repeatedly having to apply for temporary applications for individual events.
Brookes spokesman Ed Reed said: “We will now resubmit the application and the consultation period will restart.
“The university entered into the consultation in good faith and residents were told about the applications in some detail at a meeting in February.”
Brookes said the application, of three it has submitted for its city sites, covered events such as graduations, student plays and concerts.
But residents insist the application to host music and dance events indoors and outdoors would make life a misery for people living near the campus. Margaret Conway, of Headington Hill, said: “It will be a party time district right beside major residential areas.”
Her husband Ken Lovesy said the university had not properly consulted on its plans and was “trying to slip a blanket proposal under the radar”.
He said: “We are facing a nightmare world of noise pollution and rowdy behaviour.”
The licence application would allow both live and recorded music, with residents fearing the prospect of open-air events on terraces and the new piazza.
An all-night New Year’s Eve event and annual ball with a 5am finishing time are also proposed.
A separate application for the sale of alcohol and music had already been submitted for Brookes’ Milham Ford campus, which is likely to be discussed next month, allowing for music, dance and the supply of alcohol from 11am to 11pm, with six late evening events going on until 1am.
A licence for music and supply of alcohol from 9am to 11pm has already been obtained for the university’s Headington Hill site.
Asked if the licence would bring in additional income for Brookes, Mr Reed said that there were no plans to introduce extra functions.
rlittle@oxfordmail.co.uk
Comments(6)
Sid Hunt
says...
11:10am Thu 20 Oct 11
maxmcmara
says...
11:47am Thu 20 Oct 11
If you live near a university, or near to where students live then you have to expect that the area is going to be lively and youthful, and most people who live in east Oxford and near Gipsey lane choose to live there because they like the idea of living in a vibrant youthful area. If you don't like it then you can move (may I suggest a country retirement home), however then you'd have nothing to moan about so you'd have nothing to fill your empty vacuous social life. My only suggestion is to stop moaning and turn your hearing aid off.
urban resident
says...
7:44pm Thu 20 Oct 11
AshHay
says...
2:08pm Sat 22 Oct 11
Sid Hunt wrote:Considering that the site has been an educational institution since 1949 I would be surprised if there are still original residents still in the area. Wherever you go in the city of Oxford you are bound to be confronted by students (either from Brookes or Oxford) and so I can't really see what the issue is here - especially seeing as they are hardly proposing club nights every night of the week all they want is to have the licences in place so that if they decide to hold events they can. This will also benefit the local community especially if they start to hold concerts/gigs again which I enjoyed immensely as a student and as a resident (I have lived in this particular area all my life).
It's possible that these people were here before Brookes and did not anticipate a place of learning becoming a location for raucous activities. Does an establishment for higher education really need an almost constant supply of alcohol?
Jaimie
says...
7:18pm Mon 24 Oct 11
Oxfdom wrote:I suggest that ordinary human consideration be applied to this conversation. Oxford Brookes was a far smaller far more quiet place when I first moved here - 23 years ago. And the student population caused no nuisance that I was aware of. Since then the numbers have grown, private landlords have bought most of the council houses that went on the market ... so much so that students are in the majority here in the immediate vicinity of Brookes. First, in response to those who made hostile and arrogent suggestions that those who don't like the noise should move, it's clearly a little known fact that some permanent residents are councul tenants who simply do not have any alternative but to live here and continue living here! Some of those who moved here did so because they were offered a council home by the council. Some people living in the council property still existing here were actually born here, while others have been here a very long time - far longer than I have. Many do not have the financial means to move away. And why should this be necessary? Can we not find some way to accommodate one another? Every adult living here, permanent residents and temporary residents alike, need to remember it's a mark of psychological maturity and emotional intelligence to do our best to practise ordinary consideration towards one another at all times. There's a very elderly lady among us who has lived here since a young woman, and who is a warm person. She has an excellent relationship with her young student neighbours next door - who let her know in advance when they're going to have a party... and then have the maturity to keep the volume within a considerate level. Perhaps we could all be guided by this example - permanent residents and students alike!
It always amazes me that people move to live on roads next to a university, then complain about late night events in their "residential area" (with a massive university next door). Yes, I wouldn't want drunk people going past my house at 2am, but that's why I live in a house away from any unis (cheaper than living in Headington, too).
Oxfdom says...
10:54am Thu 20 Oct 11