Noisy out of towners upset locals
Residents neighbouring Blue Lagoon were distressed by the non-stop partying and mess created by out-of-town taxis that made the area their taxi rank over the weekend.
BLUE Lagoon was the site of a makeshift taxi rank over the weekend leaving residents North of the Umgeni River to deal with the public disturbance caused by out of town taxi drivers enjoying non-stop partying.
Metro Police spokesman, Senior Superintendent Eugene Msomi extended his apologies to all those who were affected by the weekend’s disturbances. “We simply did not plan properly for the number of people and taxis that visited the Blue Lagoon on Saturday night. The combination of revellers celebrating after the soccer final and school holiday makers overwhelmed our plans in that area, for that we sincerely apologise,” he said.
Residents at Riverglades, a block of flats across the river were incensed after a weekend of sleepless nights. Lee Jarrett described the weekend as a “absolute nightmare” .
“On Friday night we were subjected to loud music, screaming, shouting and whistling that echoed across the river making it unbearable on our side. The same thing happened the previous weekend,” said Jarrett.
Upset residents called police and were told that Metro Police had asked the taxis to leave central Durban and park at Blue Lagoon.
“I phoned Metro Police on Saturday morning and complained about the noise. On my second call to Metro on Saturday around midday I was asked to meet with the two officers at Blue Lagoon, which I did. I was horrified at the filth, stench and mess from these taxis,” she said.
Residents were assured that Metro officers would keep patrol on the premises through the night to ensure there was no loud music and noise.
Aubrey Penning, Chairman of the Body Corporate at Riverglades was inundated with complaints from many of the 78 families living at the complex. “Last weekend wasn’t so bad but this weekend was absolutely unacceptable. The music was unrelenting right through until Sunday afternoon, all day all night, there were at least 200 taxis with only three mobile toilets,” he said.
Msomi said Metro police sent extra patrols on Sunday morning to deal with drunk people and the situation was normalised.
He said that braaing at central beaches was prohibited so people intending to braai are advised to move to the northern beaches where it is allowed.
“Parking of vehicles including taxis at the official on-street parking bays is allowed. However, when there is a big event or where we anticipate high volume of visitors using taxis /buses we normally arrange off-street parking at the old Drive In site, where vehicles are parked off street and secure. We also post extra police officers on both the north beaches and at the secure parking, precisely to prevent drunkenness and disorderly conduct. This unfortunately was not done on Saturday night,” he said.
