PROBLEMS with anti-social behaviour were among the issues discussed at a meeting of Winton residents.

Around 30 people attended the Winton Forum event, including council officers and members of the neighbourhood policing team.

One resident spoke out about problems he had experienced with noise and anti-social behaviour from students he lives next to.

Representatives from Bournemouth University and Arts University Bournemouth spoke at the meeting to update people on measures they have taken to resolve issues between residents and students, such as the student community warden scheme.

Stuart Lane, chairman of Winton Forum, explained: “Most of the meeting was spent looking at the impact students are having in the area.

“One resident talked about his ongoing issues with students – the parties, noise in the street, late night arrivals with banging on doors at 2am.

“Some people have found the situation has improved while others said it had got quite a lot worse.

“Guest speakers from the council and the universities described the work that they’ve been doing to get on top of the problem. They’ve been making efforts to put first-year students into halls of residence as much as possible as they tend to be the most disruptive.

“It was flagged up how important it is for residents to phone the out-of-hours council number when they have an issue. Residents have reported that they’ve generally found council officers quite responsive.”

Other issues raised at the meeting included those associated with Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMOs).

“There was recognition that some properties are repeat offenders with regards to anti-social behaviour,” Stuart continued.

“When you get clusters of HMOs, it can become a bit of a riot – some areas of Winton have got to saturation point such as Cardigan Road – around 80 per cent of which is made up of HMOs. This happened before a cap was introduced a couple of years ago where more than 10 per cent was deemed to be saturation.

“We’ve agreed to have another meeting to see if there is any opportunity to claw back where there are too many HMOs in the area.”

Winton Forum will next meet in October to discuss the planning aspects of HMOs, the progress of the Winton Neighbourhood Plan, and parking issues in the area.

“Despite the subject matter, the meeting was very well-managed,” Stuart added.