Post 6 of 10 – Campaign Starts Today | RHUL’s Growth Plan

**No longer applicable**

The Future Of Egham & Englefield Green?

I was a student at Newcastle University graduating in ‘99. I lived my first year in halls and then spent two years in Jesmond, a popular student area in two different HMOs.

During my time there, both Newcastle & Northumbria universities were growing rapidly. I observed first hand how the universities (& the city) adapted to accommodate the increase in student numbers.

I returned to Newcastle in the mid noughties on a social visit and took a look around. I went to Jesmond and was genuinely shocked to see how the area had in effect turned into an extension of the university campus; the principal street had changed into a series of bars & cafes and many of the family homes had been converted into HMO for student lets. Students were everywhere. The area was pretty much unrecognisable.

Though the environment & conditions have changed from then to now, and the geography is different too, my concern is that our community will be impacted on many levels by RHUL’s current growth plan. And my fear is that it may even become the new Jesmond with time…

RHUL plans to increase its student numbers from 11,732 (2021/22 figure) to c.15,000 by 2029/30. This is an increase of 3,268 students, a 22% increase in 8 years. To add some context to these figures, in 2014, 9,915 were enrolled. In 2019, 10,593 students were enrolled. This is a 6% increase in 5 years.

It is RHUL’s intention to encourage more of its students to stay on campus in the next stage of its development by providing more accommodation and facilities on the campus. (On top of its education fee, the university benefits by charging for accommodation and other services.) It is also argued that keeping students on campus will benefit the wider community; more students on campus means less night time disruption for the local community.

The new Rusham Park student village* that is being developed on the old Procter & Gamble site will have 2000 bed spaces. It will have flexible, multifunctional spaces that can also be used for conferences/ summer schools. This will go some way to accommodate the 3,268 additional students. I also agree to some extent that keeping students on campus will help the impact on the community.

During my student days though, part of the student experience was to live in the community in a student let – and I think that is still true for the majority of today’s students.

Despite RHUL’s aspiration of keeping as many students as possible on campus, I believe the increase in student numbers will inevitably lead to more students living in the community in HMO. And logically, I expect there to be an increase in student ASB in the community subsequently.

*For further information on Rusham Park, and to see other new building in development, you can look at the estate plan by following this link:

https://royalholloway-estateplan.co.uk/projects/

I hope you do not experience any ASB over the next 4 weeks (or indeed ever) but if you do please report it so we can get a true understanding of the situation.

There are currently 52 people taking part in this campaign via the WhatsApp group. Thank you for spreading the word. If you have recently joined or have not done so already, please consider sharing the link with friends and neighbours who might be interested in this campaign.

And please remember, for those neighbours and friends that are not on WhatsApp, please ask them to contact Andrea and he will keep them in the loop. (If they are not on email, please ask them to send a SMS to his mobile: 07421 047 575.)

Thanks again for being part of this campaign,

Best

A Gnat