After the recent decision to close Cartmel laundrette overnight, many students have been left feeling angered.
Lancaster University’s Head of Commercial Services, Jo Hardman, told SCAN that “the Laundrette at Cartmel has been closed at nights between midnight and 6am due to problems with vandalism and also concerns around security in the premises.”
However, it seems that one of students’ major concerns is the lack of notification they were given before the overnight closure. In a recent comment article for SCAN, Laurence Pullan suggested that it “would be appropriate for the students to have been told about any issues that were arising in the laundrettes rather than taking the ludicrous step to deny us 24 hour access to them.”
Similarly, when talking to SCAN, one third year student asked “how are we supposed to solve issues, or even become aware of them if we are not notified as students? There needs to be better communication between the university and its students.”
Other students, however, did seem to appreciate the reasons for the closure, with one student telling SCAN that “whilst students should have been told about the decision to close the laundrettes, the closure is in the interest of student’s security and the security of the laundrettes, so we should remember that.”
Hardman also stated that “Unfortunately this laundrette is not easily monitored by security, but the current closure is for a trial period. In addition a request has been made for CCTV to be put into the Laundrette which will help to ensure the Laundrette can open 24 hours.”
Therefore, it seems that steps are being taken to ensure both safety and security around the laundrettes, and also that the laundrettes will be reopened for 24 hour usage as soon as possible.
