* Trelawney, 9 Oct: Busy night for Beech
(22033) Several residents in and around Trelawney Road complained about noise from student addresses in the street on the night of 8/9 October 2022 that led to two visits by Operation Beech.
(This report covers incidents 22033, 22032 and 22031 at Houses A, B and C respectively.)
Resident1 said in an email on 11 October: "We were in the middle of contacting Operation Beech on Saturday night (Sunday morning) when they turned up. It was very noisy and with significant numbers of people making noise on the street going to and fro between parties and during attempts to shut down the parties. ... Our street WhatsApp group has been red hot over the last few days ..."
AW: I observed events at first hand for about an hour, during which Operation Beech arrived and shut the largest of the parties down. I subsequently circulated the following report to residents, UoB and the managing agents of the properties involved:
"I arrived in Trelawney Road at about 00:30am and noticed a party underway at [House A]. There were small groups of people on the pavement and others at the front of the property, which stands above road level and is reached by steps. However, the main activity appeared to be at the rear of the house, as evidenced by the sound of a significant gathering of people in the open air. They were not visible from the road, but appeared to be in the garden, reached by an alleyway between [A] and [House B]. I also heard loud beat music, but on closer inspection this was coming from [House C]. (Later, when the music at [C] was turned off, some music was evident from the rear of [A], but not as loud.)
"At [C], the front door was open and the sound suggested a gathering of people inside. There were also a few people outside at the front on a flat area over the garage.
"At about 00:45am, Operation Beech arrived in the street. (Not called by me.) I spoke briefly to the officers, whom I had also met earlier in Alexandra Park [see incident 22030]. They said they had already visited [A] earlier that evening. After I pointed out the loud music at [C], they went to that house first, then to [A].
"Shortly after 1am, people started to file out of the garden of [A] and into the street. (One of the officers later told me Beech had asked for the party to finish.) There was a flow of small groups out of the property for about half an hour. Some of these walked away, but many lingered in the street. Some were calling taxis, but I suspected others were hanging around in hopes the police would leave. The numbers in the street ebbed and flowed, peaking at about 30-40 at any one time. As some moved off, others came out of the property and took their place. The continued presence of the Beech officers possibly helped keep a lid on behaviour, but overall the scene in the street was noisy.
"At around 1-20am, most people having left, Beech departed. Someone from the property then invited stragglers to "come back in", and about half a dozen did so.
"Another group of about a dozen walked off noisily towards Hampton Road. They were still audible a hundred yards away.
"At around this time, I also noticed four or five people crossing the garden end of the alleyway from left to right, that is from [B] into the garden of [A]. This suggested to me that the occupants of [B] are also students and were attending the party.
"I finally left just after 1-30am, at which time I could still hear people in the open air at the rear of the [A], with some low-key music. (House [C] had been quiet for some time.) Although the noise from [A] was reduced, it may still have been sufficient to disturb residents in Cotham Lawn Road whose houses back on to Trelawney's gardens.
"As a further gauge of the area impacted, for much of the time that I was observing the above I was also talking to a resident who had come out of his house 60 metres away to see what was happening.
"I didn't speak to the occupants of any of the properties mentioned. I did have words with one group on the street who started shouting just a couple of yards away from me."
Resident2 said in an email to UoB: "I did hear a lot of noise from down the street and a lot of noisy people walking down the road but was unsure where the party noise was coming from."
Reported to UoB or UWE: B
Raised with landlord / property agents: Flatline
Reported to police: Beech
Complaint # in series: 1
Previous report # citing this address: xxxxxx
Total incident(s) in this report: * 3
# From 1 July 2022
* Includes incidents mentioned in this email that have not been recorded previously.