By Anna Whittaker, Local Democracy Reporter
Residents who are ‘marooned’ between two student accommodation developments in Beeston have told of major issues over parking and noise.
Families and couples living near Dagfa House and Broadgate Park say they are often woken up in the early hours of the morning to noise and sometimes cannot park outside their own homes.
It comes as a Broxtowe Borough councillor warned against “making the same mistakes” by approving future student accommodation projects in such close proximity to residential areas.
Councillor Philip Owen (Con) said he predicted that Dagfa House in Salthouse Lane would cause issues if approved by the planning committee back in 2017.
The 229-room development, on the site of a former school, is next to Broadgate Park, a ‘village’ of student accommodation, which houses 2,000 students and is run by private company UPP.
Caroline Slaney, 62, said she put up signs outside her house on Kenilworth Road after the parking got out of control at the start of the year.
She said: “It’s been a major problem here. It got to the stage where five days out of seven, people couldn’t park outside their homes and have to park two streets away.
“But we do feel like we’ve got support, Councillor Steve Carr has been brilliant.”
She said since she put the notices out, there have been fewer problems.
But she added: “The noise has been really problematic too.
“I’ve often phoned at 3am about big parties, especially during Covid. Every year I am hopeful that it will get better because this is a lovely place to live.
“Beeston is vibrant because we have students and I wouldn’t want them to be banned from living here.
“But there is a limit and I think we are getting to that limit around here.”
Peveril Road resident Colin Brown said: “It’s horrendous. Last year was the worst.
“It hasn’t started yet because it is the first week of term, but in two or three weeks they will be back.
“They used to block the drive or park right against my drive. They put white lines down [as a deterrent] but most of the time the whole street is blocked with student cars.
“I would like to see parking permits for residents here.”
Another resident, who has lived in The Cloisters since 1987, said she felt like her street was “marooned” between two student accommodation developments.
She objected to the Dagfa House development in 2019.
She said: “We are an island in the midst of an ocean of students.
“The university has got lots of land, why can’t they use that?
“We try to give them a bit of leeway in terms of noise in the first week or two because they always go a bit mad.
“Things have improved since we got permit parking. Before that it was horrendous.
“I think students should live amongst themselves, they are such a different generation to us.”
Lyn Coxon, 80, said: “My opinion is there are too many students in Beeston.
“They are noisy, I get woken up at three or four o’clock in the morning sometimes.
“Ideally students and residents shouldn’t mix because they keep different hours. Nobody can win.”
Councillor Owen said: “There have been a lot of complaints about anti-social behaviour and it’s not fair to inflict that on a family orientated community.
“If the university wants to expand students, they’ve got a huge campus and they’ve got a lot of land there to develop accommodation.
“I always thought Dagfa house was going to be a mistake. I voted against the recommendation, on the basis that it would cause problems.
“There’s nothing we can do about that now but you do need to learn from mistakes and we can stop it from happening elsewhere.
“There were always going to be problems because despite the fact that public transport is accessible, people use their cars.”
Ward councillor for the area, Councillor Stephen Carr (Lib Dem) said: “Last term it was horrendous.
“Dagfa House was passed with no parking spaces at all and it is up to planners to insist on there being spaces.
“They should accept that some students do have cars despite the fact that the university asks them not to do so.
“Myself and my wife [ward councillor Barbara Carr] have been working hard on this with the University of Nottingham.”
A University of Nottingham spokesperson said, “While Dagfa House recently became a University-operated site, it was originally built and managed by third-party providers. Ahead of the start of the new academic year, we are communicating with all our students to remind them of their responsibilities to their local community. We are also working closely in partnership with Nottinghamshire Police and Community Protection to increase proactive patrols in neighbourhoods with higher number of students.
“We do not tolerate any form of anti-social behaviour and any reports will be investigated promptly. If there is evidence of behaviour that falls short of our student code of conduct, immediate action is taken under our internal disciplinary processes which include warnings, fines and suspensions.”
A Broxtowe Borough Council spokesperson said: “Broxtowe Borough Council takes reports of antisocial behaviour very seriously and we work with many local partners to ensure that our residents are not adversely affected. We would encourage anyone who is subject to this type of behaviour to report it to the Dagfa House management team as well as the Council. Ongoing parking issues should be reported to the Highways Authority.”
UPP declined to comment.
