Ranmoor Village’s brand-spanking new bar, The Ridge, finally won its licence to serve alcohol last week, but not before a series of clashes with nearby residents.
The residents of Endcliffe Vale Road and surrounding areas heavily opposed the idea of yet another noise- and puke-inducing student magnet.
At the Sheffield City Council licensing meeting which gave the go-ahead, the sociable student inside me felt impelled to stand up and point out that the odd lairy fresher and a few pint glasses left by the road isn’t the end of the world.
While at times I nearly sided with the residents, I thought back to times when I’ve been woken in the early hours by someone shouting the words to ‘Sex On Fire’ at the top of their voice and how little I actually cared. Why should residents of a more affluent area be any different?
Using examples from The Edge, which has dogged neighbours of the Endcliffe Village for the last two years, the main concern was the Uni’s apparent failure to discipline students who stagger noisily home after a night out.
I’m not sure what the residents want the Uni to do about such outrageous behaviour, unless bounding and gagging students is considered a suitable disciplinary measure in their eyes.
They also refused to accept that students who live in Ranmoor Village will want to have friends from other areas of Sheffield visit. They suggested that Ranmoor students should only be allowed into The Ridge with “bona fide guests” – girlfriends, boyfriends and friends.
Once you’ve added course mates, freshers’ week flings, flatmates of friends, friends of friends and friends of flatmates, you’ve got a pretty packed array of “bona fide” guests that would become impossible for the Uni to control.
Not that any of that is likely to happen anyway. How many city centre dwellers will make the trip all the way to Ranmoor to have an expensive drink in The Ridge when they live amongst some of the cheapest bars Sheffield has to offer?
I’m sure that one day, after my studious days and gluttonous nights are over, I’m not going to want my Sunday evenings watching Midsomer Murders interrupted by a bunch of 19-year-olds doing the YMCA outside my window.
But, when I do reach those dizzy heights of maturity, I’d like to think I’ll be the sort of adult who doesn’t begrudge a student a good time if the discomfort to myself is only minimal, remembering my own days as a fun-loving fresher fondly.
The residents appeared to be complaining about The Ridge purely because they were aware they had the right to, and had no real cause for concern.
For Ranmoor’s sake, I’m glad the licensing board acknowledged this.