“…Make Jacksons field a safer environment for the students
of UCA and just as importantly, the citizens of the Medway area. As such we, the
undersigned, feel the first act in making the field safe for all its users is
to have lights that shine on the field and act as a deterrent for attackers”.
We, the
undersigned, petition the council to:
Put an end to attacks on Jacksons Field
“For years now UCA students have fallen victim to attacks whilst
crossing Jackson’s Fields. Many of the students are using the field and public
footpath as a way to reach their cars in the nearby free parking on City way,
whilst others use it as a way of getting home. These incidents have been known
to occur more frequently during the winter months as the evenings get darker
and most students leave the campus at closing time of 8pm. Despite many regular
awareness campaigns run by the student’ union and student services to prevent
further attacks, these incidents are occurring more frequently year on year.
We realise that the lack of lighting on Jackson’s Field as well as the
lack of parking spots can directly correlate to the high number of attacks
which occur during an academic year. In conclusion we acknowledge that UCA has
done as much as possible to educate and help prevent further crimes on the
field and furthermore understand that the field is not owned by UCA but by the
local council.
We believe that for this reason our case should be brought to Medway
council for debate and that we must push to make Jackson’s Field a safer
environment for the students of UCA and just as importantly, the citizens of the
Medway area. As such we feel the first
act in making the field safe for all its users is to have lights shine on the
field and act as a deterrent for attackers.”
We, also
note that incidents involving students are regularly reported to the institution,
rather than the police directly, which may have an affect on Medway council’s
action regarding this situation.
For this
reason we have also included statistics of the number of incidents recorded to
UCA this academic year.
Note: Student and Staff signing this petition are people who
currently live, work and/or study in Medway.