Oppressive night noise: an appeal on behalf of people and animals!
THE EDITOR, Sir:
IAM writing from Hope Pastures, St Andrew, where we, the residents and the animals in the zoo, were besieged again last night (Saturday night) by loud music from the grounds of Hope Gardens and the zoo. We were told in advance that there would be four different events happening on these premises last night. We tried to brace ourselves for the assault. The noise was prolonged and oppressive.
I telephoned the Papine Police Station twice during the night. The first time, around 10 p.m., I asked the officer to use his authority to get the volume of the sound turned down. The music remained just as loud.
I made my second call at 2:25 a.m. I pointed out that the music had continued beyond the legal time limit of 2 a.m. and urged him to do something! I understood him to say that he would try, but he sounded meek. The music eventually stopped at around 2:45 a.m.
Representatives of the Hope Pastures Citizens’ Association have had a series of meetings with the managers of Hope Gardens and the zoo. Based on our discussions, we think that we have a clear understanding of the issues.
1. The owners and managers say that they need additional money to sustain the services of the gardens and zoo.
2. Customers like these venues for staging public events because of their spaciousness, privacy and relative safety.
3. It has become clear that, for whatever reasons, the police are unable to enforce the laws concerning noise levels and allowable times for parties and other occasions that include music and noise.
4. From the residents’ viewpoint, the main issue is that we want peace and quiet, especially at night, when we need to sleep. We have made several appeals on behalf of the people. If the animals could speak, they would also be appealing for peace and quiet. If we, the people, cannot sleep because of the night noise, we believe that the animals also cannot sleep, and this is disturbing their health.
On behalf of ourselves and on behalf of the animals, we are appealing again to the owners and managers of the gardens and the zoo to stop the oppressive night noise!