Search for
Search for
Search forNeighbours prepare to sue over noisy steel pan orchestra
07:00 - 24-July-2008
The Comets have been based behind Auckland Road, in South Norwood, for the past six years.
But in recent months they have been in dispute with fed up local residents who want to see them kicked out.
Now it is understood neighbours are taking legal advice about what rights the police-backed community orchestra's musicians have at the old sports pavilion where they practice.
Members of the Comets say they have got around 1,200 signatures on a petition calling for the council to show more backing for the project.
They are unhappy that the council cut its practice sessions from 20 hours a week to just five hours last September.
But locals say five hours of music a week is still too much to bear.
Neighbour Jackie Ward, 55, who lives around 100 metres away in Auckland Road, said: “I would probably sign their petition if I didn't live next door to them.
“I've nothing against steel music. But when I'm in the bedroom and the windows are closed you can still hear them - that's how loud the music is.”
Although residents say things have quietened down since the practice time was cut, they fear it could be extended again.
Mike Howe, 60, who also lives in Auckland Road, said: “If I was at the bottom of a garden playing Led Zeppelin really loud on the stereo then I would be arrested, no two ways about it.
“But these people think they have got some right to get away with it.
“I agree with what they're doing as a project and think it's wonderful, but they're in the wrong place.”
The Comets insist they deserve to stay put having spent
thousands of pounds improving the facility.
Ideally, they would like to sound proof the building.
Gina Sheridan, project manager of the group, said: “I've said we are prepared to put in sound-proofing because not everyone likes the sound of steel pans.
“We have our own money for that, but the council turned us down flat.”
The group's members say they are getting kids off the streets and they have even performed at the Notting Hill Carnival.
Councillor Steve Hollands, the council's cabinet member for culture and sport, says the council is caught in the middle of the argument.
He believes the best solution is to find new premises in the borough for the Comets, which he says the council is trying to do.
“They have suggested they could sound proof the building but that isn't going to work, the sound will still get through,” he said.
“It's difficult because we don't want them to close down. They are doing what we would like people to do - just in the wrong place.”
ACCUSED OF BEING TOO NOISY: The Comets
Email this story to a friend
Print this story
Comment on this story
Be the first reader to comment on this story.