Exeter University urged to ban students from bringing cars to campus

If successful, move would echo similar ones at Cambridge and Nottingham universities

Residents say students bring their cars and leave them parked in residential areas for 'weeks on end' (Getty)

Students at the University of Exeter could be completely banned from bringing cars with them to campus should a petition prove successful.

Disgruntled residents want the elite Russell Group institution to follow in the footsteps of both Cambridge and Nottingham universities which do not allow students to have cars within a ten-mile radius and a 15-mile radius respectively.

The petition, which is being spearheaded by the Exeter Express and Echo, adds that many residents have raised issues over parking congestion in student-heavy areas of the city.

One resident has written on the petition’s site: “I live in a high density student area. Due to students having cars, some which do not move for weeks on end, I’m often unable to park outside my home or anywhere near it. With a baby, this is very frustrating.”

Another has said: “Students always get the residential gaps and they rarely move their cars all week, allowing little or no spaces for working residents who return in evenings after work. When the students go home, there isn’t a problem.”

A local councillor has even suggested student drivers should not be offered a place at the university unless they agree to leaving their cars at home.

It is feared the problem has increased in recent years due to an increase in student numbers. According to latest Hesa figures, the university’s student population is close to reaching 21,000.

The university has yet to respond to the Independent’s request for comment. However, according to the Echo, a spokesman described how the university has “invested heavily” in sustainable transport initiatives to “discourage car use” among students and staff as much as possible.

He said: “These include considerable investments in the public bus network, as well as incentivising cycling and car share programs, all with considerable success. For example, results from this year’s cycle count surveys have recorded the highest ever number of cycles for the Exeter campuses, an increase of 11 per cent since 2014/15.”

The university also reportedly communicates with students on a regular basis, including incoming freshers, to promote alternative transport options, further discouraging them from bringing their cars too.

Overall, however, the spokesman told the site: “We are not aware of any mechanism for banning students from bringing cars to the city, provided they are parked legally.”