North of England
Nightclub death raises concerns over Durham student influx
MP calls for inquiries into death of Olivia Burt and into city’s nighttime economy
Josh Halliday North of England correspondent
Tue 13 Feb 2018 17.32 GMT
Last modified on Tue 13 Feb 2018 17.33 GMT
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An MP has demanded an independent investigation into the death of a university student outside a Durham nightclub, amid warnings that the cathedral city is struggling to cope with a mass influx of young people.
Roberta Blackman-Woods, the Labour MP for the City of Durham, is calling for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to investigate the fatal crush that killed 20-year-old Olivia Burt a week ago.
A joint investigation has been launched by Durham police and the county council, but Blackman-Woods has called for two independent inquiries after saying her concerns about the safety of nightlife in the city were repeatedly dismissed.
She said: 「We need two things: we need to know what happened that night in some detail and how it can be avoided in future. We also need a more wide-ranging inquiry into the nighttime economy in Durham and whether it’s properly policed, properly managed, in venues that can actually accommodate the numbers.」
Blackman-Woods said she had first raised concerns about Walkergate, the leisure complex where the crush happened, 10 years ago when it first opened, and nightlife there should be relocated 「somewhere much safer」.
She said taxi drivers had raised concerns about the glass barriers that collapsed during the crush outside the Missoula nightclub last Wednesday.
Durham police said there were several hundred people outside the club when Burt suffered a fatal head injury during a crowd surge shortly before midnight on the city’s busiest student night. Witnesses described chaotic scenes in an area at the back of the club, which they said was 「absolutely packed」 and much busier than usual due to the front entrance being closed.
Students, politicians and residents groups say they fear the overcrowding on that night was a symptom of a significant increase in university student numbers, which they say has left the city struggling to cope.
Cranes and construction sites have become an increasing feature of the Durham skyline, once dominated by its majestic cathedral and castle, as cinemas, restaurants and bars are built along the river Wear to try keep pace with demand from the booming student population, which has risen by nearly 5,000 since 2003.
The university plans to expand by another 3,000 students by 2026, to a total of 20,780 – and the number living in the medieval city centre is thought to be much higher when including those who travel outside to study.
Megan Croll, the students』 union president, said students were concerned about overcrowding in the city, which is much smaller than other university hubs such as York and Leeds. 「A lot of students feel like it’s too much for the city centre. They』re worried about how busy it is, they』re worried about where they』re going to live because there’s only so much housing in Durham,」 she said.
「I understand why the university wants to grow but I think it needs to be done very carefully because of the pressures on the city centre. Something does need to be addressed to make sure that doesn』t turn into accidents or overcrowding, which it obviously has done in this tragic case.」
David Freeman, a Liberal Democrat councillor for Durham city centre, where students make up about 75% of the population, called for the university to slow or stop its dramatic expansion, describing it as a safety risk as well as a strain on the stretched resources of the council and police.
「The make-up of the city has vastly changed over the last 20 years. The university has already expanded massively in the last 10 years and they want more expansion,」 he said. 「It’s about health and safety. The council should be looking to reduce licensing hours and police need to be looking at how venues are managed.」
The death of Burt, a 「bright and outstandingly able」 first-year student who had sailed for Britain, came barely two years after the last of three Durham students drowned on nights out in the city in the space of 18 months.
The council introduced a raft of safety measures following the deaths but now students say more needs to be done to deal with the increasing numbers.
「There needs to be more control, more bouncers,」 said one second-year student who was in the queue and rushed to comfort Burt following the crush. The student, who spoke to the Guardian and the Durham Tab on condition of anonymity, said she felt the design of Walkergate was 「really dodgy and dangerous」, with precipitous drops and steep steps outside bars.
Mike Barton, the chief constable of Durham police, said the force had worked with the council to improve safety in the city centre. While declining to comment on the ongoing investigation, he said: 「We would expect there will be lessons learned from a tragedy such as this. All the partners involved – such as the police, licensees, university and local authority – will want to improve safety.
「The success of a world-ranked university has to have an impact on a medieval city centre. There has to be give and take on both sides.」
Overcrowding has long been a concern among long-term residents in the city centre. David Hook, of the St Nicholas Community Forum, who lives a short walk from Walkergate, said: 「The city’s not big enough for the numbers coming in. You could argue that’s why the crush occurred because there’s too many students. We effectively live on a campus.」
Roger Cornwell, chair of the Durham city neighbourhood planning forum, said: 「The university has got to look again at its plans to expand student numbers. It’s raced to go through this growth without so much as a by your leave from the council, who ought to try put into the balance the needs of permanent residents.」
The council declined to comment.
Topics
North of England
Durham University
Higher education
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本文來源：https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/feb/13/nightclub-death-raises-concerns-over-durham-student-influx
