The back gate is getting a 3m high super-fence to stop us climbing over it

The missing fence at the back gate is set to be replaced by an impenetrable 3m high super-fence to prevent us climbing over it.

The old fencing has been missing since yesterday afternoon which left many of us speculating how long we’d be able to enjoy the freedom of roaming in and out of campus after dark without ripping our jeans or wounding ourselves.

However, the university have confirmed the fencing’s removal is temporary.

A university spokesperson said: “Work is underway on a new fence and gate at the entrance to campus at Spring Rise.

“This work, along with improved lighting, will be finished in the first weeks of December and will ensure a safer campus for students and staff, along with added security for local residents.

“There will be no change to the current arrangements which see the gate locked at night.”

Glory

The new fence is said to be a palisade fence rather than chain link (which has been cut through previously) and is designed to prevent students from breaking into the premises via the back gate. The fence will be wide enough so the majority of wildlife can pass freely between campus and Egham.

Hollie White, Major Project and Incident Planning Manager, told residents: “We are looking at a way where [students] can’t get through it, they can’t get over it, they can’t go round it. It is shut!”

Document outlining the plans for the new fence

It’s not news that Egham-based students hate the back gate. Third year English and Creative Writing student Isabel, who lives in Egham, has frequently found herself climbing through the fence late at night, and describes the danger it’s put her in: “I can’t count the amount of times I’ve nearly lost a limb on that bloody fence.

“Let’s not even discuss my dignity – that’s been missing since I first straddled the fence in a skirt.

“This bigger fence malarkey is just ridiculous. What about actually granting students a safe route to and from the university at night? Maybe a key-card gate and some better lighting would be a better solution?”

Similarly, Philosophy student Eli Marino told the Tab she feels unsafe walking home using a longer route. She said: “The longer it takes me to walk home the more unsafe I feel.

“Egham isn’t just a town populated by students and happy families, there is also crime.

“It isn’t just the residents who need to come first but also the students who might have relied on the hole in the gate to get home faster and more safely, something which shouldn’t be taken lightly.

“I know I couldn’t defend myself if I was threatened on my walk home and it’ll take an attack before the university realises it isn’t the students who are the problem.”

Freedom may reign for the next couple of weeks, but soon we could be forced to take longer routes home.