Code of conduct

The first ride this evening goes to the Sint Teunisstraat in the Boschstraat quarter. For a number of years, a resident in this street has been disturbed by a large student house that is owned by the Servatius housing corporation. The property mostly houses international students, some of whom only live in Maastricht for a short time. That makes it difficult to make permanent agreements. After the most recent complaints, the municipality, Servatius and the university are in talks to find a solution for the persistent nuisance. ‘We as a university have an interest in ensuring that relations between students and other Maastricht residents are good’, Martin Paul explains. ‘That is also part of our code of conduct.’ When they arrive in the street, the group listens carefully. But they don’t hear a sound.

Then on to Limmel, where several disturbances have already occurred on the Populierenweg during the pilot. One property has already been given a ‘cease and desist’ in an earlier warning. If another disturbance occurs, they will incur a €1000 fine. Meanwhile, the municipality, residents and the property owner have held meetings, and the situation is under control. That is clear, as this street is also utterly calm.

The same goes for the Franquinetstraat in Brusselsepoort Oost. During the beautiful weather a week ago, there were quite a few parties, and residents complained about the noise. But it’s quiet now, perhaps because one address here also received a ‘cease and desist’. ‘Contact with the property owner is extremely important to reducing the nuisance’, says Ricardo van Dijk. ‘It helps enormously if the owner engages in a dialogue with the residents. Some owners have no idea what is happening in their property. Most respond positively if we ask them to cooperate.’

Beer

After a cup of coffee to stay awake, the group decides to take a look at several student associations. At Circumflex in the city centre, a few young men stand on the street. One tells us that there are not many members inside. ‘The exam weeks are busy’, he explains. That explains why it is also extremely quite at SV Koko. Only at MSV Tragos does no one seem to suffer from exam stress. At the society in the historic Fort Willem, the mayor and president are warmly greeted by many of the board members: ‘What an honour that you would come visit us. Can we offer you a beer?’ They decline, so the group moves on after a short tour. ‘I see a lot of faces here that I know from various house parties’, laughs John Buckers when we get outside again.

Just as everyone wonders what the next stop will be, a nuisance alert arrives. It seems to be about café Upper Ten, a popular place for hotel school students on the Populierenweg. So back to Limmel. As we arrive, a few people stand in front of the café, smoking cigarettes. At the request of John and Ricardo, they move to the back garden. Like that, this alert also fizzles out. It seems that this Wednesday evening will stay calm, so the special patrol comes to an end around 1 am.