Vanessa Cairncross, resident and driver of the petition, says she and her family have had enough of disrespecting people disrupting their peace and quiet and quality of life and she started a petition to move the municipality and the SAPS to action.
“The Knysna Lagoon is a spectacular and peaceful place where many people live and enjoy holidays. It is a big tourist attraction and a very important estuary. However, there is an element which is disturbing the peace beyond reason and causing much unhappiness amongst residents of Knysna. During weekends, the peace is shattered for three days and nights straight as parties are held at a park in the middle of many residential areas. The visitors play loud booming music constantly and refuse to pay any attention to the municipal laws signposted around the park. They also do not consider how their behaviour affects the residents of Knysna who live in the area,” Cairncross says.
“We would like the law of no loud music and no drinking and driving to be enforced. These party-goers race their cars up and down after consuming alcohol. There are also children at these parties.” Cairncross says safety is one of their main concerns and they would like a shut-down time. “We would like to see the municipality and the SAPS re-commit to their mandate and we would like to see people who disregard these laws pay the fines and take responsibility for their actions.”
An owner of a B&B wrote in a letter to the Knysna Plett Herald that a foreign couple booked out of the establishment and demanded a refund because they were unable to sleep on Friday and Saturday night, October 17 and 18. “An incredible sound of loud thumping music was coming from the picnic area on George Rex. The music went on from the Friday evening to the early hours of Saturday morning.
“This is an ongoing problem every year. We are not referring to the matric farewell party that were going on somewhere on Saturday evening. The noise that keeps our visitors and certainly those at the residential homes as well as other B&Bs much closer to George Rex from having any peace or privacy, are from the drunken groups who gather at the picnic area. Our establishment is not even one of those close to George Rex, so we can only think how many clients they must be losing to this incessant noise pollution and total lack of consideration by those who abuse that picnic area.”
The owner says she called the police several times and thanked the police for responding, but according to her it did not really solve the problem.
“My guests left as they were unable to get any rest and neither were we. Knysna is supposed to be a place of beauty and tranquility, but it's impossible to enjoy any of that if you have a small group of individuals who care only about themselves and, in an intoxicated state, are seemingly unaware of the effect their bad and infantile behaviour is having on everyone else around them. On numerous occasion previously (not this time), my husband and myself have driven down in search of where the noise is coming from. Every time it has been at the picnic area and once from taxis parked under the trees further down George Rex. It is impossible to even attempt to negotiate or ask these individuals politely to turn their music down, explaining that our business is suffering as a result. As things are at the moment one does not feel like driving at 02:00 to ask adults to behave in a manner befitting civilised society.”
Lauren Waring, Knysna’s municipal manager, said in a response that Cathy Park is a concern with regard to noise pollution. “With the festive season around the corner, the municipality will address the problem to ensure that excessive noise pollution is controlled and prevented. We do expect users of the park to be considerate of the surrounding homes, who are often awakened at unacceptable hours by rowdiness. In addition, a site inspection of the area has been arranged to see how the municipality can block off the area to prevent vehicles from driving and parking next to the braai area.
”The petition is available at
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/stop-peace-disrupting-loud-all-night-parties-on-the-knysna-lagoon-by-enforcing-existing-municipal-laws.html or at Treasures4U on Waterfront Drive, Bosun's and Jawitz' office on Thesen Island.
Knysna residents who want to put an end to loud all-night parties disrupting peace around the Knysna Lagoon and want to ensure that existing municipal laws are enforced, can now sign a petition to this effect.
ARTICLE: INGRID ERLANK, KNYSNA-PLETT HERALD EDITOR
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