I attended the Councillors Campaign for Balanced Communities Conference in Nottingham on 13 March 2008.

At this conference, the National HMO Lobby launched its new publication, “Balanced Communities & Studentification”. This booklet follows publications by universities and by students on students and communities – but this time, it puts the community’s point of view. It does three things in particular:-

• explains what a balanced community is (and why it matters);
• explains what studentification is – and why it is such a problem for communities; and
• suggests a Ten Point Plan, which should be adopted by local councils and other stakeholders, to tackle the root problem of studentification.

The booklet is available on the Lobby’s website at http://hmolobby.org.uk/39articles.pdf

Please take a look and let me know your views on this important topic for the future of Oldfield Park and the wider city of Bath.