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Tuesday 22 March 2011
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Big Walk noise irks residents City willing to walk the road with organisers to improve systems VERNA VAN DIEMEN
THE Green Point Ratepayers’ and Residents’ Association (GPRRA) wants the city to ban event organisers from using the Green Point Track after written complaints from 26 residents. The 1UP Cash and Carry Big Walk held at the Green Point track two weeks ago was lambasted by residents and ward councillor JP Smith. Smith said that while the ratepayers’ request to blacklist the event was “inappropriate and excessive”, the organisers of the event were “ill-mannered and disrespectful for going into someone else’s backyard and making such a noise”. “In the context that they have run a successful Big Walk for the last decade, this is their first transgression and as they have a new organiser it would be harsh to blacklist the event,” he said. Smith said that the organisers would have to pay a “large deposit” next year, which will not be refunded if they transgress any of the event rules. The association received 26 letters from residents complaining about the loud noise from the stadium on Sunday 6 March. Bob Goebel, chairperson of the GPRRA, said that music, announcements and soundchecks were “blasting from the PA system even before 07:00, inevitably breaking the city’s rule that announcements may only be made after 07:30”.
In addition, the speakers were turned toward the residential area and not in the direction of the sea, which would have absorbed some of the sound, said Goebel. The event started at the west forecourt of the Cape Town Stadium in Fritz Sonnenberg Road at 07:30. Participants walked towards Beach Road, then along the Sea Point Promenade to the end of the Sea Point Pavilion parking area, before returning to the finish at the Green Point Track near the stadium. Fed up with the noise, Goebel decided to go to the track and ask the event organisers to turn down the music, only to be told that it was “none of his business”. He then contacted Lesley de Reuck, who is part of the city’s stadium management team, and he, in turn, sent a representative to ask for the sound to be turned down. He too was chased away, said Goebel. “The city sympathised entirely with us but that person was also chased away.” Dr Elias Parker, sponsorship, marketing and events director for the Big Walk, said they were in talks with the GPRRA and the city to resolve the matter. Parker admitted that they started testing the PA system before 07:00 but said that the speakers were indeed turned towards the sea. “It is not true. Nobody was chased away. In fact I was there. The City sent people to the stadium. I instructed them to turn down the volume and the city representative was satisfied with the volume,” he said. Parker did, however, say that there may have been a reason for the misunderstanding.
“Our sound person, who had been with us for 30 years, passed on and we had a new company handling the sound. The speakers were turned toward the sea but the low clouds deflected some of the sound waves into the direction of the residents,” he said. Parker said that they had received complaints about the event, now in its 12th year, in the past, but this was the first time that noise levels had been a problem. Goebel said he could not comment on previous years as this was his second year with the GPRRA. The city, which sponsors the event, has defended the Big Walk, reinforcing its commitment to assisting the organisers with the event. Gert Bam, the city’s director of Sport, Recreation and Amenities, said the city would stand behind the event, but promised to address issues raised this year in the run-up to the next event. “We need to have perspective about these matters because this event is now only 12 years old, and already has a participation level in excess of 20 000 people. It should be remembered it took the Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour a few decades to refine its systems. Our commitment as a department is to use every opportunity to assist the organisers with this,” he said. Goebel says the problem is not so much the noise, but that the speakers that were facing towards residents and not into the stadium. He said the only solution was to “ban offenders who disregard the community’s right to acceptable noise levels”. But although the association also received complaints about noise transgressions during the Cape Ar-
COLOUR EXPLOSION: The “Dream the future” theme for this year’s Cape Town Carnival came alive in spectacular colour in Long Street in the CBD on Saturday. The carnival parade was arranged into a series of pods, with each of the 10 pods consisting of a float, six costumed lead performers and 200 costumed performers. Photo: Jaco Marais
gus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour, they have not asked for that event to be banned. Instead the GPRRA sent a more lenient letter to the organisers complaining about loud music being played at the finish line, which was “a major disruption and highly intrusive during their day”. The letter ends: “Besides the noise issue, I would like to congratulate all involved for a fantastic event, which showcases Cape Town and Green Point as the fine city and area that it is.” Goebel said the cycle tour was “a little bit noisy but it was not too bad”. The letter from GPRRA about the 1Up Big Walk has a much firmer tone, stating that: “Fining is not the answer because the fines in place are too low or never paid, or the payment is never made public (which
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does not serve) as a deterrent to others”. Goebel said that there has also been a request to ban a South African company for contravening some of the conditions of their permit while shooting a movie in Green Point last week. The 1UP Cash and Carry Big Walk is a charity event. It was opened by Cape Town Mayor Dan Plato with more than 20 000 entrants, including Dr Ivan Meyer, MEC for Cultural Affairs and Sport, among the participants. People’s Post is the print media sponsor for the event. A cheque of R125 000 was handed to the Red Cross Children’s Hospital, which will go towards the newly upgraded Specialist Burns Unit. The Islamic Library also benefited from the proceeds.
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