Watch: Derry residents speaks out against HMO expansion: 'We don't want to become like the Holylands'
Residents living around the Magee campus area have expressed fears that their neighbourhood will resemble Belfast's Holylands unless action is taken to limit the number of Houses of Multiple Occupation.
Representatives from CRAM (Concerned Residents Around Magee) spoke as they protested outside the Guildhall shortly before stating their case before the council and calling for a 10% HMO cap.
Ahead of the meeting, CRAM members Lilian Deery and Pauline Ferris raised their concerns about the HMOs in their area.
Lilian Deery from Nicholson Square said the number of houses being passed as HMOs for students – a lot of whom also have cars – was growing in the area.
Lilian said that this means “when we leave the street in the morning and come back, we can't get a parking space”.
"My husband needs a parking space near the house because he has mobility problems. When these people go to university, they are there all day, so they are not back until night, and they could have friends over at the weekend.
“We have seen it around Argyle Terrace, where maybe 30 houses in the one street are HMOs, and we don't want it coming to that. That's why we want a 10% cap,” she said.
Pauline from Northland Villas raised similar issues. “The students park their cars all week, and they never move. I walked here today because if I take the car, I won't get parked, it gets beyond a joke when you come with a pile of shopping. I live on my own. I'm 71, and I have mobility problems, that's the main problem.”
Worried that their streets may come to resemble the Holylands in Belfast Lilian said: “So, it's come to this now, where we have to come to the street to protest because we don't want to end up like the Holylands; we see the problems they have in Belfast, we don't want them here in Derry.”
The two residents clarified that their issue lies with developers and landlords, not with students. Mary pointed out that some students even signed CRAM’s petition against the HMO applications, demonstrating their support for the residents' cause.