FM concert causes sleepless night for irate residents
Ward councillor will address full council on the issue of by-law violation regarding late night parties.
MORNINGSIDE residents were subjected to another weekend of loud noise as Metro FM hosted a concert at People’s Park last week Saturday, which blasted high volumes of noise until 5am on Sunday.
According to Martin Meyer, ward councillor for Morningside and Greyville, eThekwini once again ignored the well-being of its own residents when it gave Metro FM permission to host the concert to continue until the early hours which is in violation of its own bylaws.
“I understand that People’s Park is a venue for all residents of the city, and I acknowledge that concerts like these are important to the city from an economic and social perspective, but these concerts must then happen within reason and not to the detriment of the quality of life of residents in the area,” he said.
Councillor Meyer stressed that when he received phone calls at 3am from irate residents, with screaming babies in the background because they cannot sleep, then the concert was no longer within reasonable limit. He said the fault lay with the city which condoned the violation of its own bylaws. “Some of the complaints came from as far as seven kilometres away,” he said.
“The city has bylaws that govern the times noisy events are allowed and there are also by-laws that govern noise pollution. The city cannot choose to ignore these bylaws when it suits them. I have after previous such concerts, engaged with the city, but so far the city continues to allow these events to go on until early mornings,” said Meyer.
He said he would seek an urgent meeting with the City Manager, Sbu Sithole, and would also submit a formal question to a sitting of the full council for answers on the matter.
“The city cannot continue to disrespect the wishes of residents in this manner. The area is largely residential, and the city has to keep the well-being of residents in the area in mind when applications for concerts like these come forward. SAPS and Metro both report that they received massive numbers of complaints. This clearly shows that people are not happy with this situation. The residents have had enough and it is my responsibility as their elected representative, to do everything in my power to hold the city to account,” said Meyer.
