Bath & North East Somerset Council is joining forces with students and staff from the University of Bath and Bath Spa University to visit over 2,000 properties in student areas of Bath during October.
Areas including Oldfield Park, Westmoreland, Widcombe and Lansdown have been part of the campaign during the first 3 weeks of October.
The visits are part of the Good Neighbour Campaign which is run by the Student Community Partnership (SCP) and welcomes new students to Bath and helps them make the best use of the Council’s recycling and rubbish collections.
It also encourages both students and local residents to introduce themselves to their neighbours.
The SCP is a partnership between Bath & North East Somerset Council, the University of Bath, Bath Spa University and their Students’ Unions.
It exists to promote harmonious relationships with student residents, permanent residents and the wider community of Bath.
The student residents will also be given tips for living in Bath, such as utilising public transport where possible and getting involved in the community through volunteering and other opportunities.
Just last year, the SCP was shortlisted for a National Recycling Award having donated more than 6,000 bags of unwanted items to the British Heart Foundation, raising over £100,000 to support the important work the British Heart Foundation does.
Councillor Bob Goodman, (Conservative, Combe Down), Cabinet Member for Development & Neighbourhoods, accompanied the team on some of their visits.
Cllr Goodman said: “This year, with the new rubbish collections starting next month it will be an opportunity to talk to students and local residents to make sure everyone is fully prepared for the changes and is recycling as much as they can and setting their waste out properly. These visits have proved to be an important way to reduce problems around rubbish, recycling and litter.
“I want to see this Authority having one of the country’s highest recycling percentages and by engaging with students and residents I’m hopeful that we will be able to achieve this.”
Kalyn Mallard, Community Liaison Co-ordinator of the Student Community Partnership, said: “Students in Bath are an integral part of the local community, from taking on part time jobs to volunteering for many of the local charities.
“It is important that both students and local residents establish and maintain good neighbourly relationships.
“The Good Neighbour Campaign plays an important role in ensuring students and local residents concerns are raised and addressed, provides student residents with practical information to help them settle in and outlines what is considered neighbourly behaviour.
“We look forward to meeting different members of the community during and hearing how the SCP can help to further strengthen town and gown relations.”
This is just one of a variety of activities the Council is doing to engage with students over the new collections.
“This has included roadshows at Fresher’s Fairs where the Waste Campaigns Team have spoken to over 1,000 students, encouraging them to sign up for the text reminder service to prompt them when to put their rubbish out. Anyone wishing to make use of this service can text their postcode to 07520 631700.”
Delivery of the wheeled rubbish bins has now started and will continue until early November, with the re-usable rubbish bag deliveries starting later in October.
Look out for your welcome pack, which will be inside the lid of your wheeled bin or posted through your door if you have a re-usable rubbish bag. Make sure that you do not use your new bin until your first collection after 6th November.
If you want to find out more about the changes, visit www.bathnes.gov.uk/recycle or contact Council Connect at [email protected] or 01225 39 40 00.