VOTE: Bognor residents set to 'spy' on student motorists

A scheme to report persistent abusers of the kerbsides is being considered to solve the chronic parking problems around the town's University of Chichester campus.

And students who consistently break the rules will be faced with eviction from their course.

The idea was discussed at the first meeting to be held between the neighbours of the university's campus, its senior officials and county and district councillors.

"I've had reports of cars which have been parked along the roads for all weekend or even longer," county councillor Francis Oppler said.

"It might be a case of residents taking note of those registration numbers and passing them on to the local police community support officer, Jan Williams.

"She could then identify the students and pass the details on to the university. They would then be able to do something about it.

"That is something we can explore further. I will have a dialogue with the police and send a letter to residents in the next two or three weeks if possible."

The idea stems from the fact first-year students who are residents on the campus are banned from having cars, to keep parking spaces free for those who live elsewhere and have to use their vehicles.

But there have been no effective checks to date to see if the 220 first-year resident students are keeping to the agreement, which is a condition of their residency.

While they may not be using the campus' 223 parking spaces, they could be leaving their cars around the corner for long periods in surrounding roads such as Hook Lane.

University chief finance officer Ian Child said: "The ultimate sanction for that is eviction. Hopefully, though, it would not get to that stage.

"There would be several stages of discipline to go through. There would firstly be a discussion with their accommodation manager. If that did not work, the stages would get increasingly formal."

About 50 residents from the Glenwood estate attended the meeting in the assembly hall on the Upper Bognor Road on Monday.

Dr Robin Baker, the university's vice-chancellor, said he was well aware of the anger experienced by its neighbours.

"We want to get the message across to all our students, particularly first-year students, that it's a really daft idea to park in the streets around here for all sorts of reasons," he said.

The university had taken steps to tackle the situation with the launch of a special space in the London Road coach park, on the opposite side of Upper Bognor Road, but this had not worked as well as expected.

"The main reason is the laziness of the students, but it is also a factor some students feel it is intimidating to be there at night," he conceded.

Another measure which would be taken was the launch of a daily parking rate for the university's car parks.

The university says it would cost just a few pence and could make it more affordable to students than the current 30 annual fee.

Double yellow lines were painted by the county council in May in the most dangerous parking hotspots, but Hook Lane resident Roger Caplin said the restrictions had knocked thousands off house prices in the affected areas.

It would pay residents to have a permit parking scheme which gave them the right to park in their area for a small annual charge.

"It might cost us a bit of money, but we would get that back in our property prices," he said.

Would you be happy to report university students for parking in your street? To cast your vote see the panel on the right.

What do you think? Click here to send a letter to [email protected] or leave a comment below.

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