By Cara Sulieman
A GOOD behaviour guide for students is being put together using £5000 of taxpayers’ money.
In an effort to keep their neighbours happy, student leaders at Edinburgh University are asking their rowdy classmates to produce a “good neighbour guide”.
But instead of doing the hard work themselves, they’re spending the cash to get an external company to do it for them.
The £5000 comes from the South Central Neighbourhood Partnership, one of twelve groups set up by the City of Edinburgh Council to improve quality of life in the capital.
The research will find out what residents think of students, and what the city’s young residents can do to keep their neighbours happy.
Thomas Graham, external convener of the Edinburgh University Student’s Association, thinks that the study is essential to finding out exactly what problems students are causing.
He said: “There are two types of students who cause problems.
“There are those who just don’t realize that their behaviour is unacceptable because this is the first time that they have had to live within the community since leaving home.
“It is these students that we are tackling with the good neighbour guide so that they can learn what steps they can take to limit their negative impact on the community.
“Unfortunately there are also students who are just anti-social and they need to be dealt with by the police and other authorities.
“What we’re trying to do is limit the negative effect students have on the communities in which they live and try to focus on the positive impact we make.”
The good neighbour guide will give tips on keeping down noise levels, rubbish collection and how to move in and out without causing too much upset.
On top of £5000, both the university and the students’ association are providing money to fund the research.
EUSA president Adam Ramsay thinks that the survey will help students and local residents to get along better as neighbours and understand each other better.
He said: “We need to ensure we have good relations with our neighbours. It’s all too easy for university cities to slip into a ‘town and gown’ mentality.
“This research will be a small step which will help us find out where we are now, and how the local community perceives students.”
The idea has received the backing of politicians, as they wait to see what outcome the survey has.Murdo Fraser, Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning said: “This is an interesting idea and one that will clearly attract attention.
“Despite the use of taxpayers money, the motives behind it are clearly positive and so we should wait and see how this project develops before we say anything further.”
