EVER-GROWING numbers of university students living in Leamington has prompted more calls for action.
Residents living in the north of the town fear some areas are becoming student ghettos and they are fed-up with having to face piles of rubbish left on pavements and suffer late night noise throughout the week.
They have formed the Clarendon Neighbourhood Group (CNG) and will be meeting with Warwick District Council (WDC) officers this week to demand a review into their concerns.
Group member Carrie Terry said: “There are streets across Leamington, which no longer feature any permanent residents at all, where family homes have been converted into student flats and houses, and given rise to a whole host of problematic issues.”
“This is the start of a campaign for residents to be heard – with a collective voice.”
She cited Clarendon Avenue as an example, where during term time some three-quarters residents are now Warwick University students.
SoLAR (South Leamington Area Residents) has been voicing similar concerns about the town’s student population which has more than tripled in the past two decades, and which is now home to more than 6,000 students during term time.
Colin Pigg, who is also a member of the newly formed CNG, added: “Warwick University has plans for significant growth in student numbers and yet they have no intention of increasing on-campus bed-spaces, preferring instead to outsource their students’ accommodation requirements to our community.
“The impact on Leamington is devastating and will become virtually irreversible.”
CNG want to see a reduction in the number of HMOs and the concentration of students in the centre of town.
They would like to see WDC revoke the licences of negligent landlords as is done with pubs guilty of allowing anti-social behaviour.
Warwick District Council has said it will coment after the meeting.
