Loud events annoy Sandton residents

Sandown resident Yuvesh Bedassi complained about noise in the area on 21 September.

His first assumption was that the noise stemmed from a nearby party venue – UrbanTREE in Kramerville, but it was later confirmed by City Parks that a charity event had been held at Innesfree Park.

“The noise was still ridiculous, especially from 6pm until about 10pm,” said Bedassi.

According to Ward 91 councillor Andrew Stewart, the event at Innesfree had been authorised by the City’s Joint Operations Committee and finished as planned by 11pm.

Due to the growth of venues in the past year, it is hard to pinpoint the sources of noise and residents are quick to blame rooftop venue, UrbanTREE.

According to Bruce van Halderen of UrbanTREE, they too heard the noise on 21 September. They were “mistakenly blamed” for instances of noise pollution by the City last year but on closer investigation, they found UrbanTREE were not to blame on those nights as they were closed.

“There are three event venues in close proximity to UrbanTREE. They emit noise above the sound limits laid down by City bylaws. We have heard evidence of this several times at night when the city goes to sleep and sometimes in the day. The City environmental health officials are aware of this,” said Halderen.

Lauren Freeman of Katy’s Palace Bar in Kramerville, however, has not received any complaints.

“We have had a sound specialist advise (us) on the positioning and placement of our DJs and bands to avoid noise pollution and all our events take place inside the venue,” said Freeman.

Manager of 3 Desmond Street, Wiseman Moyo, said they had been organising events for the past year and no complaints had been received, either.

Sales and functions director for The Venue at Green Park, Marijan Abt, claims there is no noise pollution from their side.

“Green Park abides by the rules and regulations set out by the council,” said Abt.