STUDENTS at Cardiff Metropolitan University’s Cyncoed campus have rejected claims that student drivers are guilty of dangerous parking and aggressive behaviour.
The university is applying for planning permission to demolish a bungalow and replace it with a seven-storey student accommodation block which has 518 rooms.
But the application has attracted 30 public objections on Cardiff Council’s planning portal, some of which claim that students park inconsiderately on streets near the university and that increasing the number of students at the campus will make traffic problems worse.
In an online post under the application’s ‘Public Comments’ section, Mark Phillips said: “(The university) has already ruined the area with its illegal, dangerous parking (and) aggressive behaviour from the students.”
Jack Hughes, 24, lives in Cathays and studies strength and conditioning at Cyncoed campus. He feels that criticisms of students’ driving is unfair.
Jack Hughes, 24, disagrees with claims that students park dangerously.
“All parking done by myself and by students that I’ve seen is legal,” said Jack.
“I don’t park on any double yellow lines and never in permit-only areas. I park safely and never in a way that blocks anybody else’s car.
“Around the university, the only aggressive driving I’ve seen was by people who I do not believe were students – people in expensive cars, maybe businessmen.”
Sam Puckle, 23, is also a strength and conditioning student. As someone who drives from Cathays to Cyncoed every day, he says the university leaves some students with little choice but to park down side streets.
“You can park on campus but it costs money,” said Sam.
“And for students on a tight budget, it’s unaffordable. It doesn’t cost much per day but it racks up over the weeks and months.”
Sam Puckle, 23, says students have to park on side streets.
There are 644 parking spaces at Cyncoed campus and they can only be used by commuters. Students who live on campus are not allowed to park their cars in the university’s car parks.
According to Bill Kelloway, councillor for Penylan, the campus’s ban on cars for residential students will not stop them from driving.
“Students tend to have a love affair with their cars,” he said.
“Even if they can’t park on-site, they will still drive. They will just park elsewhere and this inconveniences local residents.”
Additional parking spaces do not feature in the university’s planning application for the new accommodation block, which is still being reviewed by the council’s planning department.
