Oh man! Just when I had hoped that our little squatter friends would have taken the hint and been bored by Hackney Police and the Council’s Noise Nuisance Team gatecrashing their party every hour or so, my neighbours were at it again last night.
It’s not like I didn’t live near to the Vortex Jazz Club for 10 years or anything. In the time Dave Mossman was running the show, never once did I have a noise issue with him or the Club.
So after a week of interrupted sleep courtesy of the X-Vortex squatters, teen-aged boys falling out of the X-Vortex and pissing all over our walls, PC Bitseach’s shift pattern, my own work deadlines to meet and a dose of PMT to top it off; I can assure you Mr Void, I was being nice!
When I was awoken last night to the sound of mad drumming at 0200, I thought I’d take a different tack and ring the Hackney Noise Nuisance Team. They told me they served an Abatement Notice on the little dears the night before, and were surprised they were at it again. I’m not.
I lost any last shred of sympathy I might have had for the squatters and their “cause” the minute I was compelled by them to have two Council Noise Nuisance guys in my bedroom in the middle of the night to let them hear for themselves how loud the noise emanating from the X-Vortex was.
Why should these squatters care? They are not from here; they don’t really want to stay around here – because if they did, they would have told the judge at the possession hearing that the X-Vortex was their home rather than a “community centre”- so they are quite happy to make some pointless political gesture, when if they really gave a shit about the workers, they’d go back to the original remit they set themselves (as a community “space” rather than rave shit-pit) and give their working neighbours a bona fide break!
So neighbours, it’s 0840 on Sunday and I’m off to work. Cheers for the 0200 wake up call. Roll on Richard and let’s see those Starbucks lattes.
February 20, 2007 at 5:38 pm
This is on your friend Keono if you missed the original -
http://threescoreyearsandten.blogspot.com/2007/02/doing-your-stuff-for-planet.html
Hoping for the best at Birmingham this evening.
September 29, 2008 at 12:41 am
That sounds awful, I’m having the same problem with the SV Bar 70 Stoke Newington Road. My landlord kindly has let it out as a club, underneath rows of flats. The council are being rubbish at helping me. Who did you contact?
Every weekend I have to listen to booming music and put up with threatening behavior outside my front door.
Often I spend the evening (well more like 2-4am) calling the club owner, my landlord and the police so I can get a few hours sleep before getting up at 7am to go to work.
So annoying!!!
I hate the way Dalston is going, so many awful bars and clubs, and no control over the noise for the normal tax paying residents that live there.
September 29, 2008 at 7:28 am
Hi Anna
Here is a link for the position in law re noise nuisance: – http://www.ealing.gov.uk/services/environment/pollution/noise_pollution/noise_nuisance/
Hackney do have an after hours noise nuisance number. Here is a link for them:
http://www.hackney.gov.uk/ee-pollution-noise-412.htm
I was never able to get any response out of them via their email contact. I would telephone them. If you call them when the nuisance is happening, (after hours) one of their guys should come around. I know that is not particularly convenient at 2am, but that is how the evidence is gathered.
If Hackney don’t pull their finger out, you can always complain via Hackney’s complaints procedure. If, after exausting that, you are not satisfied with their response (or lack thereof) you can complain to the Local Authority Ombudsman.
Good luck!
Kind regards
Kris
October 5, 2008 at 11:58 pm
thanks Kris! Well it’s 1am on a Sunday/Monday…and it’s started up again
I finally have managed to get through to a noise officer though, hurrah!