Parking problems near a huge sixth form college caused by inconsiderate students could explode into violence, a senior local councillor has warned.
Residents have complained of cars blocking driveways, being left on verges and preventing emergency services and tradesmen reaching houses.
Some homeowners are so furious at the ongoing situation since One Suffolk Sixth Form College opened in Ipswich in 2010 that they have put expletive-filled notes on windscreens.
Christopher Hudson, the Suffolk county councillor whose electoral division covers the area, told MailOnline an ‘urgent solution’ was needed before the warring parties come to blows.
He said: ‘People get onto me and they are majorly p***** off with the problem. You get backchat from kids and you get notes [on windscreens] from residents.
A Suffolk county councillor has warned parking problems caused by inconsiderate students at One Suffolk Sixth Form College in Ipswich could spill over into violence
Some residents have left notes in an attempt to stop the students parking in their road after some cars have blocked driveways, been left on verges or prevented emergency services
‘What’s untenable and unreasonable is for them to block people’s drives because ambulances can’t get there. We need to find an urgent solution.
‘I’ve had a woman say she couldn’t get out for her cancer treatment. Others have missed a doctor’s appointment or at Ipswich Hospital.
‘Unless something can be done I fear this will escalate and someone will get hurt. I’ve been made aware of threats both to students and residents. That really can’t be allowed to persist.’
Cllr Hudson said two meetings with Nikos Savvas, the chief executive of Eastern Education Group which includes the college, had fallen through.
He believes the solution might be to make students sign a contract to ensure they either use on-site parking spaces, nearby car parks, or a local park and ride facility which residents say is ignored by the ‘lazy’ students.
Locals – who at present are having a rare period of respite because of the Easter holidays – spoke of their frustration when visited by a reporter last Thursday.
One said: ‘They put double yellow lines down there and people just park up anyway and ignore them. Some people do leave nasty notes, but I don’t know who.
‘My daughter has only been driving a year and she knows how to park responsibly, so youth isn’t an excuse. They’ve got to think about where they’re parking and where not to park. It’s not rocket science.
‘When they parked either side of the road, you couldn’t get an ambulance down. Once, someone was having a bathroom delivered and they had to walk it down to them.’
Keith Sparkes, 63, who cares for his wife and daughter, said: ‘We were assured in 2010 when they first opened it that most of the students would travel by public transport or walk but, naturally, if they passed their test they wanted to drive.
‘We found out that there were limited spaces in the car park [at the college] because they built an astroturf pitch there and that meant the car park wasn’t big enough.
‘The problem is the number of students toing and froing there and also the fact that many of the lecturers are part-time, which means some will work in the mornings and some in the afternoons, and there’s an overlap when it comes to parking.
The county council believes the solution might be to make students sign a contract to ensure they use on-site parking spaces, nearby car parks, or a local park and ride facility
‘The yellow lines went down about three years ago. It’s not ideal because if we have visitors coming they now have nowhere to park.’
Another local, Danny Davey, 72, complained: ‘There’s always a problem parking here. There’s always cars parked on the corners. They come from the college. They park on the corners and make it hard to see.’
Neighbour Pat Green, who is in her late 60s, added: ‘It’s very dangerous when they park on the corners because you cannot see the traffic.
‘I know they’re from the college, because at one point I took a note of this guy’s registration and the colour of his car and he parked there and two days later he was there again.
‘I thought I’d speak to him on the third time and I said ‘Excuse me, are you going to the college?’ and he said yes.
‘I said ‘Do you mind not parking there, this gets full and I have nowhere to park. We’re having problems with parking and going to meetings, so I’d rather you moved’.
‘He looked at me and said ‘What are you going to do about it?’
Locals have accused the students, who are aged 16 to 19, of showing ‘zero respect’.
The matter came to a head recently when it emerged nasty notes were being left on the teenagers’ windscreens.
One, from March 19, warned: ‘Yet again, you f****** a******* decide to park here. You are a disrespectful p******* s***.
‘I have reported this car again!! We will get rid of you.’
The student’s parent said the ‘abusive’ behaviour towards minors was ‘completely unacceptable’.
They added: ‘My daughter is not lazy, has worked hard for her car and provides a car share for three of her friends in a bid to help reduce the parking issue.
‘The park and rise at just over 20 minutes’ walk away is certainly not an ideal option in poor weather conditions.
‘This note left by residents on my daughters’ car – which in fact was parked legally, we have checked – is not acceptable.
‘Letters of a similar tone and different handwriting are left regularly either on my daughter’s car or her friends’ cars. The most recent letter has been the most abusive and contains the worst language.
‘As young adults, they are naturally worried about these threats.’
The parent went on: ‘I would be so ashamed if my daughter had spoken to a resident in this manner.
‘She was asked to move her car slightly the other day when parking, which my daughter did, and was thanked by the resident.
‘However, the nature of the anonymous notes that are being left is just disgusting and far from polite.’
But another local said residential roads within a one-mile radius of the college were affected.
‘Students take some of the very limited space we have for visitors, family, friends or workmen,’ they said.
‘We pay to live here and can’t have anyone visit us because we haven’t got any spaces for them.
Residents have vented their frustration at the students, who park in nearby roads to One Suffolk Sixth Form College in Ipswich
‘They park on grass verges which need cutting, but we can’t gain access to them because cars are on them. They park on the pavements which means I sometimes need to walk my dog in the road.’
The resident ridiculed attempts to get the students to use the park and ride, saying: ‘They don’t want to use that out of pure laziness. They’ve been offered buses for £1 as well but they don’t use this. Ultimately, it’s very lazy, inconsiderage and disrespectful.’
The homeowner, who also complained about rubbish dumped in the road by the car owners, continued: ‘You have to manoeuvre and swerve down my road sometimes. At one point an ambulance couldn’t get down because of the cars parked on either side.’
Critics have also accused the typically environmentally-minded students of ‘betraying their consciences’ by driving to college instead of using public transport.
The college, which has around 2,000 students and was given a top Ofsted rating of ‘outstanding’ in 2015, was approached for comment.
It said previously: ‘We have always engaged with the local community as a hub for its needs and whenever there are issues, we always seek to understand individual concerns and find solutions.
‘Since the last time this issue was raised, we have increased bus routes, have been actively encouraging behaviour changes, continued to emphasise park and (st)ride options, encouraged walking, cycling and rail options where available, challenged all car park users who do not display a parking permit, and we stress the need for our students to be mindful citizens when parking in and around our local community.
A Suffolk Police spokesman said: ‘The local policing team is aware of the issues raised and will continue to work with Suffolk One and local councillors to try to find a working solution.’