Council hears ‘Nightsafe’ initiative ‘rarely’ used due to ‘diminished’ anti-social behaviour from Coleraine UU students
Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council has been told of “diminished” anti-social behaviour by Coleraine Ulster University (UU) students in recent years.
Council’s Head of Environmental Services said Council’s Nightsafe initiative, which tackles issues at student accommodation in partnership with UU and the PSNI, was “rarely” used due to a drop in anti-social behaviour at student accommodation.
During June’s Environmental Services Committee members were asked to approve a Data Sharing Agreement between UU and Council, which allows both parties to collaborate and share information to address anti-social behaviour, with an aim to protect students and the wider community from harm and to provide a safe environment in which students can live, work and study.
As part of the Agreement, Council’s environmental health department participates in the Nightsafe initiative, in partnership with both Ulster University (UU) and PSNI, to, according to an officers’ report, “pro-actively address issues arising within student residential areas of the borough”.
The report noted that while Council has statutory powers to deal with anti-social and nuisance behaviour and UU has established processes for maintaining acceptable standards of student behaviour, each party may hold incomplete information when acting independently and the Agreement facilitates the implementation of “appropriate actions and interventions, including preventative measures.”
Director of Environmental Services, Aidan McPeake, said the Agreement has been in place in the past and was “particularly pertinent” in cases of anti-social behaviour from students.
“Thankfully that has diminished over the last number of years and we have rarely had to use the Nightsafe initiative,” he said. “But it is useful to have this in place if we need it.”