Name:          Lauren Padmore

Degree:        ENV (Year 2)

Bio:              Lauren decided to apply to UEA in the hope she could avoid some of the living costs she would incur if she moved away from home. By applying to her local University she committed herself to a fifty minute car journey each day.

In April last year, Lauren was forced to add an extra thirty minutes to her daily travelling time when student parking was relocated to near the Hospital. This was a consequence of a new University parking policy that prioritises staff over students, even if they have the same needs.

Realistically, Lauren’s only option to get to UEA from Sheringham is by car. To take the train she would have to leave home at 6.50am to arrive in time for her 9am lectures, at a cost of £1308 for the year.

Faced with adding an hour to her journey each day if she continued to travel by car, and the expense and two hour commute if she used public transport, Lauren decided to move away from home. As a consequence, by the time she graduates she will have incurred an estimated £20,000 debt – the debt she had tried to avoid by choosing UEA.

Name:          Julie Gibbon

Degree:        SWK (MA)

Bio:              Julie is a former history student at UEA, having studied here between 1998 and 2002. She returned to UEA in 2007 to undertake a Masters in Social Work.

Throughout her time at UEA, Julie’s seen the car parking situation get worse and worse while the University expanded and more and more students decided to stay living locally and commute rather than incur high living costs.

Last April, Julie witnessed the situation hit rock bottom for students. A new University parking policy sent all students to park thirty minutes away near the Hospital. Meanwhile, University staff, even those that live on direct bus routes to and from the University, retained their right top park on the main campus.

Julie’s experience as a student has been radically changed. Her travelling times have been radically extended by an hour each day, and has to make a gruelling trek with a ton of books on her back. She doesn’t understand why the University has chosen to discriminate against her in such a way.

Name:          Janet Crichton

Degree:        HIS (MA)

Bio:              Janet, a grandmother of four, soon to be six, started at UEA in 2004. Having looked at other local Universities, including Essex, she decided to study at UEA for its great reputation and quality of its courses.

This decision was based on a journey time by car of ninety minutes. Janet’s daily journey was changed dramatically last year when a new University parking policy meant that she now has to park over the river, near the Institute of Food Research, adding an extra hour onto her travel time.

Sometimes she can’t face an extra hour journey and so parks on the main car park as a visitor, costing her £7 a day, and even misses lectures because she’s fighting for a space. A member of University staff, also coming from Bury St. Edmunds, will automatically get a parking space on the main car park for only £1 a day.

If Janet had known car parking would have been such a problem, she would have thought twice about her decision to study at UEA.

The Union of UEA Students is calling for a review of this policy, that prioritises staff over over students with the exact same needs.

We want to see the implementation of a needs based parking policy, where the conditions of a permit application being successful are based on factors such as childcare arrangements, public transport options and travelling times and applied to both students and staff. We want to see an extension of the area in which you cannot apply for a permit extended to all areas in direct walking distance from the University and areas around bus routes direct to the University.

For as long as this policy remains in place, the experience of hundreds of students will be adversely affected - it absolutely needs to change.

Name:          Lauren Padmore

Degree:        ENV (Year 2)

Bio:              Lauren decided to apply to UEA in the hope she could avoid some of the living costs she would incur if she moved away from home. By applying to her local University she committed herself to a fifty minute car journey each day.

In April last year, Lauren was forced to add an extra thirty minutes to her daily travelling time when student parking was relocated to near the Hospital. This was a consequence of a new University parking policy that prioritises staff over students, even if they have the same needs.

Realistically, Lauren’s only option to get to UEA from Sheringham is by car. To take the train she would have to leave home at 6.50am to arrive in time for her 9am lectures, at a cost of £1308 for the year.

Faced with adding an hour to her journey each day if she continued to travel by car, and the expense and two hour commute if she used public transport, Lauren decided to move away from home. As a consequence, by the time she graduates she will have incurred an estimated £20,000 debt – the debt she had tried to avoid by choosing UEA.

Name:          Julie Gibbon

Degree:        SWK (MA)

Bio:              Julie is a former history student at UEA, having studied here between 1998 and 2002. She returned to UEA in 2007 to undertake a Masters in Social Work.

Throughout her time at UEA, Julie’s seen the car parking situation get worse and worse while the University expanded and more and more students decided to stay living locally and commute rather than incur high living costs.

Last April, Julie witnessed the situation hit rock bottom for students. A new University parking policy sent all students to park thirty minutes away near the Hospital. Meanwhile, University staff, even those that live on direct bus routes to and from the University, retained their right top park on the main campus.

Julie’s experience as a student has been radically changed. Her travelling times have been radically extended by an hour each day, and has to make a gruelling trek with a ton of books on her back. She doesn’t understand why the University has chosen to discriminate against her in such a way.

Name:          Janet Crichton

Degree:        HIS (MA)

Bio:              Janet, a grandmother of four, soon to be six, started at UEA in 2004. Having looked at other local Universities, including Essex, she decided to study at UEA for its great reputation and quality of its courses.

This decision was based on a journey time by car of ninety minutes. Janet’s daily journey was changed dramatically last year when a new University parking policy meant that she now has to park over the river, near the Institute of Food Research, adding an extra hour onto her travel time.

Sometimes she can’t face an extra hour journey and so parks on the main car park as a visitor, costing her £7 a day, and even misses lectures because she’s fighting for a space. A member of University staff, also coming from Bury St. Edmunds, will automatically get a parking space on the main car park for only £1 a day.

If Janet had known car parking would have been such a problem, she would have thought twice about her decision to study at UEA.

The Union of UEA Students is calling for a review of this policy, that prioritises staff over over students with the exact same needs.

We want to see the implementation of a needs based parking policy, where the conditions of a permit application being successful are based on factors such as childcare arrangements, public transport options and travelling times and applied to both students and staff. We want to see an extension of the area in which you cannot apply for a permit extended to all areas in direct walking distance from the University and areas around bus routes direct to the University.

For as long as this policy remains in place, the experience of hundreds of students will be adversely affected - it absolutely needs to change.

Name:          Lauren Padmore

Degree:        ENV (Year 2)

Bio:              Lauren decided to apply to UEA in the hope she could avoid some of the living costs she would incur if she moved away from home. By applying to her local University she committed herself to a fifty minute car journey each day.

In April last year, Lauren was forced to add an extra thirty minutes to her daily travelling time when student parking was relocated to near the Hospital. This was a consequence of a new University parking policy that prioritises staff over students, even if they have the same needs.

Realistically, Lauren’s only option to get to UEA from Sheringham is by car. To take the train she would have to leave home at 6.50am to arrive in time for her 9am lectures, at a cost of £1308 for the year.

Faced with adding an hour to her journey each day if she continued to travel by car, and the expense and two hour commute if she used public transport, Lauren decided to move away from home. As a consequence, by the time she graduates she will have incurred an estimated £20,000 debt – the debt she had tried to avoid by choosing UEA.

Name:          Julie Gibbon

Degree:        SWK (MA)

Bio:              Julie is a former history student at UEA, having studied here between 1998 and 2002. She returned to UEA in 2007 to undertake a Masters in Social Work.

Throughout her time at UEA, Julie’s seen the car parking situation get worse and worse while the University expanded and more and more students decided to stay living locally and commute rather than incur high living costs.

Last April, Julie witnessed the situation hit rock bottom for students. A new University parking policy sent all students to park thirty minutes away near the Hospital. Meanwhile, University staff, even those that live on direct bus routes to and from the University, retained their right top park on the main campus.

Julie’s experience as a student has been radically changed. Her travelling times have been radically extended by an hour each day, and has to make a gruelling trek with a ton of books on her back. She doesn’t understand why the University has chosen to discriminate against her in such a way.

Name:          Janet Crichton

Degree:        HIS (MA)

Bio:              Janet, a grandmother of four, soon to be six, started at UEA in 2004. Having looked at other local Universities, including Essex, she decided to study at UEA for its great reputation and quality of its courses.

This decision was based on a journey time by car of ninety minutes. Janet’s daily journey was changed dramatically last year when a new University parking policy meant that she now has to park over the river, near the Institute of Food Research, adding an extra hour onto her travel time.

Sometimes she can’t face an extra hour journey and so parks on the main car park as a visitor, costing her £7 a day, and even misses lectures because she’s fighting for a space. A member of University staff, also coming from Bury St. Edmunds, will automatically get a parking space on the main car park for only £1 a day.

If Janet had known car parking would have been such a problem, she would have thought twice about her decision to study at UEA.

The Union of UEA Students is calling for a review of this policy, that prioritises staff over over students with the exact same needs.

We want to see the implementation of a needs based parking policy, where the conditions of a permit application being successful are based on factors such as childcare arrangements, public transport options and travelling times and applied to both students and staff. We want to see an extension of the area in which you cannot apply for a permit extended to all areas in direct walking distance from the University and areas around bus routes direct to the University.

For as long as this policy remains in place, the experience of hundreds of students will be adversely affected - it absolutely needs to change.