London, the city that would like to sleep, but can't
[Readers are advised that this is a rant-post about London's roadworks, and as such I am on my soap-box throughout. It was written on Monday night, and I've only just recovered sufficiently to post it up.]
It is 146am and Thames Water is drilling in the street outside my home. It is loud. We've complained almost every day for the last three weeks. Westminster council regularly sends us letters to tell us that the matter has been resolved. Each time we ring, they advise that the late night roadworks must be an emergency. We tell them that it's a pretty long emergency if it's been going on since last August and will continue till next August. Why can't they stick to working during the day and leave us to sleep as the Lord intended at night?
The first few times we complained nothing happened. Last week they sent a chap to assess the generator that remains on all night. It is very loud and harrumphs noisily throughout the night. He agreed that it was loud, louder than acceptable. He told us that there were a few options to solving the issue. Thames Water could pad the generator so the noise would be muffled. They could move it elsewhere. Or they might do nothing because it would be too difficult. No points for guessing that (c) was the option they chose.
Today, the operator at the council's environmental pollution unit took the biscuit. She trotted out the usual line that the works must be due to an emergency. Surely you should know if it's an emergency, I countered. Why should I know that? she said. But it's not an emergency anyway, I whimpered, exasperated and sleep deprived. They've been doing this for six months already and have another six months to go, I pointed out. It can't be a twelve month emergency, surely. There was a long silence, followed by another silence.
Why should I know that it's an emergency, she repeated finally. Because, I sucked my teeth wearily, you are the COUNCIL. My voice rose into a high pitched upper-case screech. YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO KNOW AND THEY'VE BEEN DOING THIS FOR SIX MONTHS. More silence, then she hung up.
I tried calling my MP Mark Field, but none of his numbers has voicemail, so I couldn't leave him a message. Sending an email simply wouldn't have hit the mark. I then tried to check the details for councillors in Westminster, but the Westminster website was handily not responding. Neither could I check details of the roadworks as said website was down. It is worth noting that Mark Field is a conservative MP. I have not seen him visiting my street or the roadworks, nor has he made any comment about the major activity going on here. I wonder if he represents the likely behaviour of Mr Johnson when it comes to getting involved in the nitty gritty of London life?
I called the Metro. Despite being averse to some of their reporting methods, they have a vested interest (so to speak) in London matters. Metro was out of office till 5am. It was still only 106am. The only people left were the police. I rang them - surely deep sea drilling in the wee hours had to be an offence of some sort? The nice lady was helpful with her time and sympathy but helpless to actually do anything.
Finally, my husband gingerly headed into the street to talk to the workers, who no doubt were as unhappy as we were that they were out drilling, sawing, running cranes and creating a din in the middle of the night. Unless of course they get paid four times normal, which they might well do. Apparently Thames water were at fault for not advising us that the works were going to be carried out. Funnily, on every previous occasion that we've called Thames Water they have not admitted any blame.
With all avenues now exhausted and feeling nauseous from the stress and fatigue, I admitted defeat. There was no one left to hear my weeping. In the run up to the mayoral elections, surely someone should be there to hear the pleas of Londoners who simply want a good nights' kip in order to go to work tomorrow and earn some dosh in the era of impending credit crisis? If a London resident weeps, in a forest of roadworks, does anyone hear?
As a London resident, it feels as though the mayoral election is more about prestige and pomp for the individuals involved. Rather than a personality analysis of the blues, reds and yellows, i'd like to know how the endless roadworks will be gotten rid of, why repairs take years rather than months to complete, and why no-one actually bothers to tell us - the ones who pay local and government taxes - what's going on, and when to expect intolerable levels of noise. I don't hear about the day to day issues on how to make the city not just tolerable, but also pleasant for the residents who live here. If I'm contributing a Mars bar a day, to new developments, then I'd like to be able to enjoy that Mars bar in peace.
It is 146am and Thames Water is drilling in the street outside my home. It is loud. We've complained almost every day for the last three weeks. Westminster council regularly sends us letters to tell us that the matter has been resolved. Each time we ring, they advise that the late night roadworks must be an emergency. We tell them that it's a pretty long emergency if it's been going on since last August and will continue till next August. Why can't they stick to working during the day and leave us to sleep as the Lord intended at night?
The first few times we complained nothing happened. Last week they sent a chap to assess the generator that remains on all night. It is very loud and harrumphs noisily throughout the night. He agreed that it was loud, louder than acceptable. He told us that there were a few options to solving the issue. Thames Water could pad the generator so the noise would be muffled. They could move it elsewhere. Or they might do nothing because it would be too difficult. No points for guessing that (c) was the option they chose.
Today, the operator at the council's environmental pollution unit took the biscuit. She trotted out the usual line that the works must be due to an emergency. Surely you should know if it's an emergency, I countered. Why should I know that? she said. But it's not an emergency anyway, I whimpered, exasperated and sleep deprived. They've been doing this for six months already and have another six months to go, I pointed out. It can't be a twelve month emergency, surely. There was a long silence, followed by another silence.
Why should I know that it's an emergency, she repeated finally. Because, I sucked my teeth wearily, you are the COUNCIL. My voice rose into a high pitched upper-case screech. YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO KNOW AND THEY'VE BEEN DOING THIS FOR SIX MONTHS. More silence, then she hung up.
I tried calling my MP Mark Field, but none of his numbers has voicemail, so I couldn't leave him a message. Sending an email simply wouldn't have hit the mark. I then tried to check the details for councillors in Westminster, but the Westminster website was handily not responding. Neither could I check details of the roadworks as said website was down. It is worth noting that Mark Field is a conservative MP. I have not seen him visiting my street or the roadworks, nor has he made any comment about the major activity going on here. I wonder if he represents the likely behaviour of Mr Johnson when it comes to getting involved in the nitty gritty of London life?
I called the Metro. Despite being averse to some of their reporting methods, they have a vested interest (so to speak) in London matters. Metro was out of office till 5am. It was still only 106am. The only people left were the police. I rang them - surely deep sea drilling in the wee hours had to be an offence of some sort? The nice lady was helpful with her time and sympathy but helpless to actually do anything.
Finally, my husband gingerly headed into the street to talk to the workers, who no doubt were as unhappy as we were that they were out drilling, sawing, running cranes and creating a din in the middle of the night. Unless of course they get paid four times normal, which they might well do. Apparently Thames water were at fault for not advising us that the works were going to be carried out. Funnily, on every previous occasion that we've called Thames Water they have not admitted any blame.
With all avenues now exhausted and feeling nauseous from the stress and fatigue, I admitted defeat. There was no one left to hear my weeping. In the run up to the mayoral elections, surely someone should be there to hear the pleas of Londoners who simply want a good nights' kip in order to go to work tomorrow and earn some dosh in the era of impending credit crisis? If a London resident weeps, in a forest of roadworks, does anyone hear?
As a London resident, it feels as though the mayoral election is more about prestige and pomp for the individuals involved. Rather than a personality analysis of the blues, reds and yellows, i'd like to know how the endless roadworks will be gotten rid of, why repairs take years rather than months to complete, and why no-one actually bothers to tell us - the ones who pay local and government taxes - what's going on, and when to expect intolerable levels of noise. I don't hear about the day to day issues on how to make the city not just tolerable, but also pleasant for the residents who live here. If I'm contributing a Mars bar a day, to new developments, then I'd like to be able to enjoy that Mars bar in peace.
posted by Shelina Zahra Janmohamed at 22:55
6 Comments:
Two thoughts for options:
Contact Environmental Health and complain about noise pollution at night. They are supposed to have a 24/7 officer available to attend if there is, say, an overly-loud party in need of a good quelling. (On the spot fines, enforcement notices etc.)
Also, Westminster Council have just appointed a new Chief Executive. Name didn't stick in my mind, but I did note he has just left the rural fastness of silent Suffolk for his new post....
....So, make a recording of the noise, boost it through some serious hi-fi equipment, and go play it outside his house at 3.00 a.m.
The latter choice might of course get you arrested, but it should fix the problem and anyway some notoriety is necessary for any author at some point;)
Alternatively, you could move to Suffolk mayhap?
Hmm, isn't that noise pollution and isn't it illegal in this country in the middle of the night ?
Fwiw:
1) Fire up your fellow neighbours in your next neighbourhood watch group thingy and make a collective stand
2) Send your blog entry to the main mayoral candidates and any other email address you can get hold of. Post it on their public websites, forums, feedback pages etc with a slightly more slanted take.
3) Create a public group on FB and threaten all your friends and friends of friends to join and call the candidates/authorities to question. Then anonymously email various media outlets and publicise the group
4) Video the guys at work, with amplified sound, and send it to anyone it may concern. Put it up on facebook and youtube for extra attention.
If all else fails, call those anti Heathrow-T5 activists They did a pretty neat job with the parliament building; I'm certain they would prove equally as effective in preventing the noise (well, short term anyway).
*Sofi quietly retreats from The Scene*
So after much heartbreak and headache, it turns out that the works were carried out at midnight because they required the water to be switched off and this was the time that would have minimal disruption. Fair enough, suffering for the greater good and all that.
However, the Council has clearly stated that Thames Water were accountable for communicating that the work would happen and have failed to do so.
So next steps are to go back to Thames Water and ask them for apology and compensation since they were clearly at fault. I'll keep you posted!
BTW - thanks for the support guys!
Peter, I'm not sure that my conscience would allow me to blare out loud noise at 3am. There is making a point, and then there is not adding to the pain and misery of the world!
Age old problems in this country. OK, you mentioned that they needed to turn the water off, but is that an excuse rather than a reason, after all, they might need to turn the water off to replace a pipe, but not to drill down to where the pipe is.
And the failure to communicate.... the fact that the council didn't know what was going on... the rude person who put the phone down on you... etc.
My own view is that most such problems come down to idlessness, apathy etc.
For example, if the road works were not an emergency / didn't need to be done at night, in fact what if t hey didn't need to be done at all, and a complaint from you was completely ignored. What would actually happen to the person who ignored you - probably nothing - therefore people won't bother.
In these cases you would get action if you sued - which is too much hastle for most people - therefore no action, OR if you had a councillor / MP / Euro MP who was fighting for every vote in a marginal seat, of which there are very few.
Sorry, i'm on my soap box now. I hope you get the problem sorted.
Cameron.
I used to live on a very busy student street in Newcastle and used the council environmental health unit every time a car alarm, fire alarm or burgular alarm went off for more than 30 mins at a time (this happened about once every fortnight). Their service was easy to use (on the phone) and, as long as you knew which house number/plot it was that was the culprit, they sent out someone in five minutes to deal with the problem! Excellent!
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