A BOURNEMOUTH councillor is calling for the town’s universities to pay more towards clearing up after unruly students.

Cllr Pat Oakley, cabinet member for leisure, tourism and the arts, said his ward Winton East sees double the level of reported antisocial behaviour compared with neighbouring areas due to “the higher concentration of student HMOs”.

He said while recent efforts by Bournemouth University (BU) and Arts University Bournemouth (AUB), working with the council, had led to “a massive reduction in ASB incidents”, the situation is “still not good enough”.

He said while both institutions contribute to the town’s economy overall, the “true cost” to communities is currently not met.

“Many of the students are model neighbours and it is only a small number who persistently engage in antisocial behaviour,” he said.

“Areas of the town where there are high concentrations of university students continue to experience a variety of challenges - noise nuisance, overflowing bins left out on pavements, recycling bins spoiled, untidy gardens, dilapidated properties and increased litter.

“Your council officers spend a considerable amount of time processing Noise Abatement Notices through the courts. This time is expensive and current contributions are nowhere near the true cost.

“The student spend in Winton on pizzas, taxis, takeaway food and alcohol does little to mitigate these extra costs.”

Cllr Oakley said BU contributes some £45,000 “to mitigate the cost of students to the Winton community”, while AUB contributes £10,000, although, he said, the latter’s students account for nearly 50 per cent of noise complaints.

He said while he does not want to see the extra cost passed on to students, neither students in HMOs nor their landlords pay any council tax.

“I would count myself as very much pro-university and pro-student,” he said.

“However, I believe the time has come for a new fairer deal to be struck between our wonderful universities and Bournemouth’s council tax payers. I am challenging our universities to resist the strategy of paying ‘the least we can get away with’ and step up to the mark and pay their fair share.”

Ian Jones, head of regional community partnerships at BU, said: “It would be wrong just to focus on one single figure - while we do already contribute to the council’s budget in this regard, we are also committed to the community as a whole, to funding and supporting events, community initiatives, festivals, local businesses and schemes that support residents.

“We take our responsibility to the community very seriously, and are in constant dialogue with the council about our role as a member of the community.

“We support many partners, not just the council, and want to continue to work effectively with them to support this community and to be a voice in helping this community to flourish.”

Heidi Cooper-Hind, head of student services at AUB, said: “We take our commitment to the local community very seriously.

"We are in regular communication with many partners, including local council services and the police, to support our community as a whole and to help improve the quality of the local area. 

"Our funding contributions and partnership activities are just a part of this, and we will continue to liaise with the council about how we can work together to best effect."