Noise

[Annie]

Hiya,
I'm not sure if it;s me and my hearing has got better (instead of worse)with old age, but i'm soooo fed up with the all night noise we seem to have now,
I live in one of the "back streets" of sydenham but i am woken up at least 2-3 times a night by people who don't seem to appreciate that some people have to go to work early each day.
either it's load music from cars as they come home from somewhere or loud talking/shouting.
They just don't seem to care,i found myself shouting out of my window(adding to the noise i know) at 1 oclock the other morning because someone was teaching their friend how to reverse i managed to put up with the OVER REVVING of the engine for a full 20 mins before i couldnt take any more, baring in mind i have to get up at 5.30 each morning
constant traffic noise as well.
why has Sydenham got so noisy???

[kster]

I live in mid Sydenham and we get a little bit a street noise, but nothing excessive. It is no more than you would expect living in an urban area and considerably less than we used to get when we lived in Greenwich. The main noise problem is the police helicopters that circle overhead incessantly.

[SamC]

hi. i have a bus stop near my flat. sometimes during the night i hear loud voices, laughing, shouting, stamping of feet and so on. there have been some occasions when i have got so cheesed off i have shouted down and said CAN YOU MAKE ANY MORE NOISE YOU BUNCH OF INCONCIDERATE BA*****S this has always worked but thinking of it i have made more noise than them and proberly woke up more people in doing so. yes i get lots of police helicopters buzzing over lots of the time. the police dont pay for petrol so they dont care about us. i was told they use their infra red beams and look for suspicious stuff below. but i think they have nothing better to do. if i was a police helicopter driver i would love to do it to. what a view
SamC

[sarahc]

Yes, I agree. Sydenham is getting more noisy. Me and my husband quite often get woken up from music thumping from cars using our road as a short cut or people coming back late(ish) at night, chatting very loudly or even worse - letting their brats run riot and make loads of noise. I have a young child and on the rare occasions that we have a social life and go out - I am very conscious of my daughter keeping the volume down as to not wake the neighbours.

The problem nowdays, is that people just don't have the same respect or actually even care. I was brought up to respect elders, not make loads of noise, not drop litter etc etc.

sarahc

PS - Another big bug bear of mine is people spitting in the street. What is wrong with these people. Especially when they drag it up from their boots! Don't they realise that is why TB is rife in London? AAAARRRGGGHHH!!!!

[Knighton]

Then there is the misuse of police sirens.

As I understand it... it is an offence to use these sirens between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.

If those charged with maintaining the peace insist on breaching it what gain is there?

Then again. Think how many times you hear a siren blaring. How many reports, of events which might provoke the use of a siren (i.e. an emergency), have you heard? Not many I know.... and yet these cars (on the chip shop run) are up and down our roads hundreds of times a day... deafening passers by or waking up those who have a job to be up for next day!

It seems to me the "boys in blue" have been replaced by "thugs in blue"... Overgrown adolescents who become excited by a pretend chase.

[Annie]

I agree Knighton,
Why on earth would the Police need to use their sirens at 2/3/4 Oclock in the morning?
These days all i seem to get is about 2 hours sleep at a time before i'm woken again by some inconsiderate idiot.

Just a thought maybe they use the sirens to scare away the burglar before they get there!!!
saves on the paperwork.

[Knighton]

and not so risky as confronting them

[stringfellow]

Couldn't agree more with you, Sarahc. People who spit should be forced to lick it back up off the pavements!

I must say though that where I live is very quiet but then it is a good 10 minute walk to the train station so it's swings & roundabouts really, if you want to be in the thick of it you will always get more noise.

People do seem to make too much noise late at night and not care who has to listen to them, still there are plenty of vile people everywhere not just in Sydenham so try not to let it get you down.

[Annie]

I also think spitting is disgusting! but it seems to be young and old, male and female which i find surprising really,
but i think the most disgusting thing i have seen is where a very large "lady" pushed the emergency door opener on a bus spat out of the door then shut the doors again, honest i couldn't beleive my eyes/ears.
yuk!
I'm all for starting a Spit patrol informant telephone service (SPITS for short ) anyone up for that haha.

[kster]

There is one approach to keeping the street clean that works in other countries, and that is to have a system of on the spot fines for anti-social behaviour; dropping litter, letting your dog defecate on the pavement (and not clear it up) and the like. Whilst in theory we have fines for some of these things, the big difference is that unlike London other cities don’t have all the police sat behind vast banks of CCTV screens or flying around in helicopters. They actually have policeman on the streets! I know it sounds crazy, why have policeman out and about when you can have millions of CCTV cameras (we have more per person that anywhere else in the world), ASBOs and a whole jumble of other ineffective initiatives.

When the police watch every move at a distance via CCTV, they are only ever going to intervene in a serious incident and a prosecution can only be successful if they have a clear picture and can actually play the DVD in court (a significant number of cases are thrown out because the CCTV evidence can’t be played on the videos that they have in court – in these cases neither the police nor the CPS managed to convert the DVD to video before the trail). Police on the streets will actually deter people from committing minor offences in a way that CCTV will never be able to do.

[Annie]

Hiya
Yes that could help,
Zero tolerance should be adopted as far as i am concerned.
But i think half our problem is the fact that certain people no longer seem to have respect for their surroundings, ie Graffiti,spitting,rubbish,noise etc.
also i think that because the Majority of us law abiding citizens "put up"with the abuse (because it's not worth getting hurt for)then the said people think we will put up with it all.
as for asbos etc what a joke! these politicians live on a different planet.
In fact it would be nice to hear from one to see how they feel about it all.

[stringfellow]

I'm all for having a go (if it's not too dangerous a situation!) I told a woman at London Bridge who I saw flinging rubbish from her pockets onto the track yesterday that 'maybe next time she should try putting it in a f**king bin' but she just looked at me incredulously like I was the one behaving in an unacceptable manner!

I have seen two old (and I mean pensioner age) women gobbing on the floor in recent weeks, one by a bus stop on Mayow Road and one in the nasty subway bit by Forest Hill station, so disgusting! but I suppose if that's the kind of example kids get you can't expect too much of them.

Fines sound good but what if people don't have money to pay them? I'd rather they were made to clean up the mess they make (preferably in a day-glo jacket so everyone can point & laugh) and then they may think twice before doing it again..

[Juwlz]

What a good idea Stringfellow.

I think when people throw rubbish etc they are showing a lack of respect for themselves as much as anything. Maybe if they realised that they might think twice.

[lemonade]

Hello to those who've contributed to this thread.
As most of you'll know, I'm not from Sydenham, but I too suffer the odd "Early Morning Call" at 2AM by those (to put it politely) inconsiderate individuals.
Sometimes I feel like stalking them on their way home, then when they fall asleep, giving them a taste of their own medicine!
As for spitting, YUK! I don't like to see it on a football pitch and hate to see it on the streets. I blame the parents. After all, I see parents with kids in tow, spitting...Not a good example. These parents are often the ones who put their feet on the seats when on the train or let their kids run around and swing from the poles on the bus.
OK I guess I'm beginning to sound like a grumpy old man!
As SarahC mentioned, there's very little respect thesedays. I too was raised to respect others and my surroundings.
Yes I get really annoyed when the blessed police helicopter rumbles overhead at 1AM circling aimlessly. I used to look out the window, thinking something "exciting" was happening, but nowdays I just cover my head with my pillow!
As for the police cars racing past at very high speeds with their sirens going, I can kind of understand. As if they are unfortunate enough to hit someone without their siren on, they can (quite rightly) get into big trouble....But you'd think they'd have a lower night time siren??? Sound travels at night - It's not rocket science!
On the subject about littering, well I was doing a job near New Scotland Yard and I often saw police staff coming down during their smoking breaks and guess where they threw their fag butts??? Yes on the pavement!!! I was pulled over by police and breathalised (not guilty) the police officer threw the blowing tube and wrapper into the gutter!!! But I guess I didn't have the guts to confront the copper, I just wanted the copper to let me be on my way.
Now I sound like a grumpy gutless old man!!!

[kster]

We’ve only ourselves to blame. You get what you vote for, and we keep voting in Labour.

[Juwlz]

When you see someone drop some litter, the thing to do is go 'oh excuse me, you dropped something." Then pick it up and hand it to them.
This works a treat (ok, I only tried it once when I was feeling really brave).
The person in question actually took the piece of rubbish from me, said 'thanks' and then ran off really embarrassed! (Only try this when the person in question is smaller than you).

[charlie]

i don’t know about sydenham as a whole, but thanks to the most pig-ignorant neighbours ever, my end of the street is certainly getting noisier. pretty much every weekend they stand on the street in the small hours shouting at each other, revving their engines (yes, plural), fighting with and swearing at their mates, loading or unloading their van, tooting their horns… either it’s never occurred to them that other people might be trying to sleep at 4.30am (which is when they started this morning), or they just don’t care. my guess is the latter. they do all this in the middle of the day too.
and for anyone (rightly) disgusted by spitting on the street, try this: i’ve also seen them let their mates use the communal ‘bin alley’ between our houses as a toilet. and they’ve got littering covered too: said alley is full of their old car batteries, junked hi-fi boxes, cans of stella…
they’re literally the only people on our (normally quiet, peaceful, civilised) street who behave like this. i’ve tried talking to them but it’s a waste of breath. i’ve complained to the landlord (they’re renting) and he’s been sympathetic, but he's never witnessed it so doesn’t really understand how annoying they can be. the council have come out to stop their parties (oh yes, almost forgot those), but the noise in the street is much more frequent and that’s not in environmental health’s remit.
at the risk of sending this thread off on a tangent, if anyone out there has any experience of situations like this, ideas about what I could do next, etc, i’d be most grateful.
sorry about the demented rant – that’s what they’ve done to me…

[reasontobecheerful]

Knighton.

I feel the need to reply to your post on the misuse of Police Sirens.

I work for one of the front line emergency services. (not the Police) and am insulted by your attitude. If an emergency vehicle uses an audible warning at any time it is because the driver deems it appropriate. In my experence myself and my colleges do try to hold back in the middle of the night but at the forefront of our mind is safety. Safety of both the driver, any other staff in that vehicle and primarily the safety of the public. Believe me the sound of the LFB cutting a family from the wreckage of a car at 0300 is far harder to sleep through than Nee Naw Nee Naw!

Emergency services are exempt from the highway code ruling regarding the use of audible warnings between certain hours.

The pathetic notion that we would be so irresponsible as to use our siren "on the chip shop run" is again insulting.

Next time a siren bothers you, try and imagine its your mother/wife/child waiting for the emergency services whilst having a heart attack/house is burning to the ground/being attacked or burgled. Can't imagine you would be too chuffed if when they showed up they apologised for being late as they were stuck at the lights at Newlands Park/Sydenham Road.

[GLOBAL THINKER]

Charlie,

Have you contacted Sydenham Safer Neighbourhood Team, I got in touch with them quite extensively over the use of Mini Motors on my road and it seems to have worked. I know it may seem an uphill struggle but as you say it's always a few spoiling it for the many. The contact details are

Team 16: Sydenham

Contact: Sgt Jonathan Hill

179 Dartmouth Road Sydenham Police Station
SE26 4RN

Phone: 020 8721 2010 / 07843065921

Good luck

GT

[Knighton]

Knighton.

I feel the need to reply to your post on the misuse of Police Sirens.

I work for one of the front line emergency services. (not the Police) and am insulted by your attitude. If an emergency vehicle uses an audible warning at any time it is because the driver deems it appropriate. In my experence myself and my colleges do try to hold back in the middle of the night but at the forefront of our mind is safety. Safety of both the driver, any other staff in that vehicle and primarily the safety of the public. Believe me the sound of the LFB cutting a family from the wreckage of a car at 0300 is far harder to sleep through than Nee Naw Nee Naw!

Emergency services are exempt from the highway code ruling regarding the use of audible warnings between certain hours.

The pathetic notion that we would be so irresponsible as to use our siren "on the chip shop run" is again insulting.

Next time a siren bothers you, try and imagine its your mother/wife/child waiting for the emergency services whilst having a heart attack/house is burning to the ground/being attacked or burgled. Can't imagine you would be too chuffed if when they showed up they apologised for being late as they were stuck at the lights at Newlands Park/Sydenham Road.

I know for a fact that sirens are indeed used for non-emergency journeys which do include trips to chip shops et al.

Police do not attend burglaries. When my house was devastated it took twenty four hours for any response. Police do not even attend serious assaults. They wait until the dangerous bit is over and saunter along to pick up the survivors who are stupid enough to remain on the scene.

Those vehicles are not exempt from the law. (The Highway Code, incidentally, is not law. It is a simplified summary of provisions contained within the law and in itself is not binding.)

No siren is necessary or warranted to enable a vehicle to travel along deserted roads. The facility is being abused. It is an offence to sound those sirens between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. If those who are charged with enforcing the law do not respect it and/or obey it then there is no gain in employing them. The world and his dog would be pleased to bend the rules if a genuine emergency were the object and some hitherto unknown obstruction called for the siren. The endless parade of police cars along Sydenham Road at 2, 3,4 and 5 a.m. with sirens blazing is not justified and the offices concerned should be prosecuted.

The truth about sirens is that the police ( in particular) and other services (to a lesser extent) misuse them. If they do not feel like waiting in a traffic jam then ON goes the siren.

My journeys are more important than theirs. I have to wait. So should they.