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The trouble with students...

A WINTON councillor and the chairman of Winton Community Forum have squared up in a row over students.

Forum chairman Anson Westbrook believes that Cllr Paul Hughes – who was replaced as the council’s student champion last month – was using his position to simply sign-up new Conservative members.

“His responsibility is to liase between the students, the university and the residents who have actually elected him,” said Mr Westbrook, “not sign people up to a political party.”

But Cllr Hughes hit back and said: “At the end of the day, it’s a Liberal Democrat who lost his seat to me just trying to cause trouble.”

Winton is a popular location for student accommodation being within walking distance of Bournemouth University and the Arts Institute – but the area has hit the headlines in the last year due to a number of rowdy student parties.

The pair also disagree about a theory called ‘studentification’ – which attempts to assess the affect of student settlement in an area.

“That’s a term that’s used to victimise student populations,” said Cllr Hughes, “it’s Anson Westbrook’s favourite word.”

“He arranged a special meeting on studentification at the end of last year, which did degenerate somewhat into rabble rousing.”

But Mr Westbrook said: “We’re not in any way being anti-student.”