Residents plan protest over university expansion
Residents in Egham and Englefield Green said a protest was planned for 8 June to coincide with Royal Holloway's open day
- Published
Residents in Surrey said they will protest over the planned expansion of the Royal Holloway University (RHU) site.
A group of locals in Egham and Englefield Green said rising anti-social behaviour, increases in student accommodation and parking problems were destroying their local community.
Steve Pollard, who lives in Egham, said residents are "pretty fed up" with "unbearable problems".
RHU said in a statement that it took "being a good neighbour seriously" and it had seen "a reduction in the number of complaints year on year".
The college, part of the University of London, is set in 135 acres of parkland in Egham, Surrey, and currently has more than 12,000 registered students.
Expansion plans would increase the intake to 15,000 in an area of around 26,000 residents, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said.
Mr Pollard told the LDRS the problems had become so unbearable that he would move if he could afford to.
He said: "Residents are getting pretty fed up with it. It’s going to be two residents for every student.
"Lots of private investors have bought up family homes and turned them into HMOs, that’s led to more antisocial behaviour and it’s also cut the number of homes for families so the number of young children has gone down, affecting local school intake."
He said a "family friendly" protest is planned outside the college on Egham Hill on 8 June.
The university sad its community brings "many positives", "from award-winning volunteering initiatives to community events" as well as supporting local businesses and contributing to the local economy.
“Due to our open communications with the community, we are seeing a reduction in complaints year on year; for the university, the police and the council.”
It said it took part in termly community call-in sessions for locals to raise concerns and it worked closely with other local organisations including Surrey County Council, Runnymede Borough Council and the local police.
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