WHY is it that some people and their employers believe themselves to be above the law when it comes to noise pollution?
Last month, we were traumatised by City Parks holding parties at The Homestead over two days, turning the once beautiful, but now derelict, heritage site into a ghastly open-air disco [disturbing] the surrounding homes and stables.
This month, on 17 January, the owners of a [security company in Glen Austin], set out to repeat their offence of a year ago, by hosting some sort of massive party or rave, for which an admission fee of R1 000 was demanded. This attracted so many participants that cars overflowed from the property and were parked on both sides of the road in the entire block. The noise could be heard 2km away. They obviously did not learn from the warnings issued on the previous occasion.
What surprises me is that many of the neighbours who are victimised by these illegal gatherings fail to report the crime to the authorities. Do they shrug it off because they are afraid of the consequences? If their own properties were to become the scene of a burglary or a hijacking, would they be okay with their neighbours ignoring it, saying, ‘No problem, it’s only one night?’
We cannot share a community by imposing our own selfish actions on others – we must be responsible citizens first and foremost.
