SATURDAY 25 October was the most unbearable Saturday morning in my nearly seven years of business on High Street. This had nothing to do with sales, but the volume of intolerable noise pollution we were forced to endure.
SATURDAY 25 October was the most unbearable Saturday morning in my nearly seven years of business on High Street. This had nothing to do with sales, but the volume of intolerable noise pollution we were forced to endure.
High Street was closed off to traffic in front of Nedbank which is across the road from my business, SUZI-Q. They were having some kind of promotion. The speakers sounded like they were meant to be heard over roaring Sharks supporters after the Absa Currie Cup win.
Why didn’t I say something at the time, you may ask? I did. THREE TIMES!
I approached the DJ at 8.50am – introduced myself, said I liked the music but could he please turn the music down as I found the volume really offensive. He happily obliged for a short while. Did he really think I wasn’t going to notice the increasing volume after that?
The second time I mentioned my reservations was when I spoke to two policemen in a car parked on the sidewalk and to the DJ (waste of time) and then marched into Nedbank demanding to see the manager. He assured me he would look into the matter. As I left the bank the cops were walking in and I noticed them talking to the DJ a few minutes later. I thought the situation was resolved! Wrong – it only helped for a short while.
By 12 o’clock I was ready to attack the electricity supply with wire cutters – a message I screamed (to try to be heard) to three cops watching the proceedings. Again we had light relief for a short while.
Surely there must be some control measures if people cannot act responsibly behind huge speakers in public places.
