Camden New Journal - Letters to the Editor: Noises in the night

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Camden New Journal - Letters to the Editor
Published: 8 November 2007

Noises in the night

• RETURNING home unusually late after a party at 4.30am on a Thursday, I was struck how much quieter our London streets might be if machinery systems were properly designed and properly maintained.
I think that 3am to 4.30am must be the quietest 90 minutes of the day in these parts. Yet, walking along Upper Woburn Place, past a major hotel across the road, with almost no vehicles or people in the immediate vicinity, I was struck by the noise.
Next to the pavement were a series of large vents and the noise from them permeated the whole area. This machinery noise would be lost in the ambient noise of a working day.
Then, taking the night bus from outside Euston station, having fended off private hire drivers offering their trade at the bus stop, I was struck by just how noisy the bus was – inside.
Not the engine itself but a general rattling that made a right old racket and gave the feeling that the bus was falling apart.
The driver told me that maintenance has been cut to the bare minimum in order to save costs. Again, such noise might be less noticeable on a busy day and not at all, of course, in a noisy bus garage when the bus is at a standstill.
I have a moderate congenital deafness and tinnitus. Goodness knows, therefore, what those with good hearing must suffer!
Perhaps council officers should do a few weeks’ night work, walking the streets so as to hear the noise of Camden Town, Euston and area during the “dead” of night.
Lester May
Reachview Close, NW1

Send your letters to: The Letters Editor, Camden New Journal, 40 Camden Road, London, NW1 9DR or email to letters@camdennewjournal.co.uk. The deadline for letters is midday Tuesday. The editor regrets that anonymous letters cannot be published, although names and addresses can be withheld. Please include a full name, postal address and telephone number. Letters may be edited for reasons of space.

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