Plans are available now to see what is planned on the field next to the church during the Olympics. As spotted by the Blackheath Village Residents Group:
The proper name of this area is Washerwoman’s Bottom, but the Council has chosen the more demure Church Field.
Live showings from 9am until 11pm each day, with booze served from 12noon onwards from 27th July until 12th August 2012, with up to 4,999 people in the venue.
Licensed under a 
The Blackheath Bugle 
Some Blackheath residents will have heard of these plans at the last Blackheath Assembly in October. Essentially, this is Lewisham Council’s bid to hold a public event that ties in with the Olympics, with part of them happening in Greenwich Park on the edge of Blackheath. Given that most of us are likely to be impacted by the Olympics, not least in getting around where we live and work, I think that this could be a good way of getting some benefit locally.
Whilst this will be fun for a lot of people, this has not been done before, so we need to make sure that all steps are taken to make sure it is both safe and doesn’t cause unreasonable inconvenience to local residents. Council officers have so far confirmed to me that the TV will be switched off at the latest when BBC live coverage ends (currently estimated at around 10 pm) and during periods when there is little or no audience. The volume can also be reduced at any time. As for the late night entertainment, this is to be limited to within the spiegel tent. As for the outdoor activities, there should be no tannoy system, which would otherwise thunder noise across to nearby buildings.
The plans are now at the stage of applying for an alcohol and entertainment licence limited to one of the 3 zones being used for the festival (ie Zone 2: the bit with the spiegel tent). Zone 1 (next to Royal Parade) will contain the giant BBC TV screen and Zone 3 (north of All Saints Church) will host sports activities and a small fun fair. Any objections to the proposed licence need to be made by 16 January (please telephone the Licensing Team on 020 8314 6400 for more details).
Aside from the licence, the event is still being planned, not least the activities in Zone 3 and the use of the spiegel tent in Zone 2, which should be available for any local community group that would like to hold an event. More information should be available at the next Blackheath Assembly on 26 January and I understand there will shortly be a page on the Council website for information and feedback.
Considering you are meant to represent constituents, I find it amazing that you would support a site calculated to be the most disruptive to the lives of those concentrated around this site.
Why can’t the activities be located deeper into the Heath, away from most homes?
How will traffic flows be managed with constant streams of spectators crossing roads? You can’t even provide pedestrian crossings under current conditions.
Why is alcohol necessary to enjoy this event?
When are the next local elections?
Great idea…let the revolution begin at the ballot box! Lewisham politicians have sold the Heath to Glendale. The underlying shame overall is that the Olympics are now essentially an unholy alliance between commerical and political interests, with sports coming a poor third. This is why a suggestion about an alternative Heath event that involves kids in sports wouldn’t cross the minds of our representatives in Lewisham…too worthwhile. So we’re left with a badly plannned disruptive public nuisance. Please, let’s elect some people with imagination and concern for the communities they serve
What I have said is that I think there could be some benefit locally, and that would be the case for any public event that provides free entertainment and attracts interest to our area. That said, any outdoor activity is also going to have an impact on the surrounding area, so potential benefit has to be weighed against potential detriment.
On representing constituents, I believe my role is to listen to what people think, and where there are many different views (as here) I need to make sure that the concerns of those most likely to be affected are met. That is what I am trying to do by pushing for tighter controls and better management. I think this is better than outright opposition from the start because, for the moment at least, the organisers appear willing to adapt the event to minimise disruption. I will do my best to make sure they do.
On location, yes, the further away from homes the better. I do not know the reason for the current choice, but will try to find out. I can only assume it relates to the fact that it is next to the route on the way to the Olympic events in the park.
On traffic management, I understand this will be part of the road traffic plan for the wider area that will be in operation during the Olympics. Transport generally at that time is the one issue that is going to have the biggest impact for most of us, so I am asking all the authorities involved (ie Council, police and LOCOG) to discourage visitors from driving in the area, whilst maintaining road access and parking for local residents. And yes I do want a proper pedestrian crossing at Royal Parade because the courtesy crossing points aren’t always acknowledged by drivers.
Although alcohol isn’t necessary to enjoy the event, many people often drink alcohol moderately outdoors in good weather, either bringing their own or from local licensed outlets. I believe that the reason for the sale of alcohol within the spiegel tent area is to help pay for the public event. I’ve also been told that it will only be dispensed in plastic objects and that there will be more police on duty in the area during the period. I will be discussing this with our Safer Neighbourhood Police Team at our next meeting.
The next local elections are due in May 2014, so plenty of time to consider your vote carefully.
Is that an enclosure I see on the map? Enclosure of bits of Blackheath not permitted by anyone – is that bit not Metropolitan Common Land? – Act of 1886 and Supplementary Act of 1871 specially to protect Blackheath.
Wonder if the Blackheath Society are aware of this ?
Benefits locally???? Really Kevin? Crowds, noise and alcohol…and congestion with traffic trying to inch its way around Tranquil Vale into the Village. All this happening close to housing. When the fairs are on near Greenwich Park we can hear the noise all the way on the other side of the Heath. Have never know any fair to lower the sound on request. There will be enough pressure on the village re travellers arriving by train. Someone stop all this madness, please.
Goodness, you are negative.
It’s the London Olympics. It lasts three weeks out of the whole of your life.
I think the big screens etc sound like great fun in the summer time.
The Blackheath Society and the Blackheath Jointy Working Patry know all about this scheme.
Frankly, I do not see what purpose it is meant to serve. The public haven’t asked for it and now Lewisham is to spend tax payer’s money on this when at the same time it is cutting jobs and making staff redundant.
The main site on the map is Washerwoman’s Bottom, and the Zone 3 attraction is on Church Field.
Give me strength
Neil
Finding out how much it will cost might make an interesting FOI request. http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/ seems to be down at the moment, unfortunately.
I think the idea is to entertain the public and have some events and to mark the Olympics in London. It’s surely not hard to see why it’s being done, or how many people might enjoy it on a summer evening.
The argument that “the public haven’t asked for it” is very weak.
So, unless I’ve got this wrong – that’s about 85,000 over 17 days starting at 8am until 11pm – with an alcohol licence from noon each day?
With all the moaning the Blackheath Society did for the very time-limited On Blackheath festival it will be interesting to see what they say. I’d have thought any local residents – perhaps Henrietta – would be more dis-chuffed with this? And please, ‘drug-crazed, drum-banging music fans’ versus ‘Olympic people’ – have you ever been to Cowes week?
“… there is a very strong commercial incentive for Glendale” (the company Lewisham Council employs to run the Heath) “and obliquely for Lewisham to encourage any activity on the Heath from which they can obtain some revenue,” Blackheath Society has warned.
“This is one of the many reasons why the Society is so concerned about the pop concert promoted by NIMBY” (to be held on the Heath this coming September) “which we foresee could be the thin end of a very fat wedge,” the Society said in its Newsletter last Autumn.
Looks like the Society is right and the planned Olympics screen on the Heath with crowds, booze and no doubt lots of amplified noise will be an early foretaste of that fat wedge.
All those pesky people enjoying themselves on YOUR heath.
Shocking.
Once more into the breach rushes the illustrious monarch, spouting contempt for anyone who might have to suffer noise and disruption ON THEIR DOORSTEP. [His majesty has still not responded to a query about whether the royal household would consent to a festival outside its illustrious windows].
Why, oh why, oh why, oh why, oh why could activities not be located further toward the park? There’s lotsa space out there, far away from residents’ windows and a main traffic pinch-point. [How anyone can expect to drive/bus via Tranquil Vale or Royal Parade with thousands of merry Olympists crossing roads boggles the mind].
Re Anonymous below – I’d love to have enough money to live on the heath or in the centre of the village and if I did I would still support the event. I wasn’t at all “sprouting contempt” I was once more surprised and sorry to see how negative some people were being about what sounded to me like a potentially fun event.
The nearest ‘noisy’ event that taken place very near my house was an open air film screening in a nearby park that went on until about midnight one night. Loads of people attended and enjoyed it and I’d fully support more – even if there was a bit of noise for a few hours.
You can’t live in London and expect total silence around you – it’s not reasonable.
I think that the heath is a great open space and should be used in a responsible way in the summer months.
I an entirely unscientific straw poll of the five men in the barbers shop this morning (the one near the greengrocers) everyone thought that the idea of having a pint at 7PM in the summer sun, watching that day’s highlights sounded like a very nice way to spend an August evening.
There’s still a lot of heath left free, I wonder what’s planned for the rest? Stables? Tents for the Army to stay in (not sure on how they will get in)?
@Jim
“There’s still a lot of heath left free, I wonder what’s planned for the rest?”
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
How about stock-car racing, maybe combined with an open-air beer festival, a round-the-clock thrash-metal concert and an international motorbike rally? Give me a chance to get my leathers out of storage!
And any bits of the Heath left over could be tarmaced and turned into permanent car parking, thereby solving the VIllage parking problem at a stroke AND saving Glendale the bother of all that grass cutting.
This is very bad news for Blackheath’s pubs, isn’t it?
Is it? It’d be interesting to get a view from a local landlord.
Indigo
Have you EVER said anything positive? You have your hand in the failed Nogoe attempt, the St Alfeges Church gravestone fiasco and now Blackheath. Can all of these events impact you directly? Surely not. Maybe you spend your days running around trying to find causes to fight that don’t directly impact on you.
I challenge you to say something positive about something happening locally (choose your own rather broad(!) definition of local) and cheer yourself up a bit.
A terrible idea and one that risks setting a dangerous precedent. This time, the Olympics – next time, England football matches? Those who want to watch the Olympics can do so at home or, no doubt, numerous pubs. Can the rest of us not just be left in peace?
In reply to your comment about being abusive to our councillors. I take your point about their volunteer status etc. No councillor abuse intended, with apologies if that’s what came across. I want to direct attention to career politicians in Lewisham who are responsible for the deals and grand schemes that directly affect the fabric of our communities. The councillors no doubt feel their efforts should be directed at mediation, becoming the go-betweens…to make the best out of ill conceived, ill received plans. The potential outcome of this case and that of the Nimby concert is the drip drip of attrition where the Heath is concerned. Our councillors are not the source of that problem. Our local political ‘Japanese knotweed’ problem is rooted somewhere else in Lewisham. Let all of us concerned with what’s happening combine resources and find out who is responsible and let’s lobby for change.
To refer to our councillors as “volunteers” makes it sound as if they are working for nothing. For his work as a local councillor, Kevin Bonavia receives a basic annual allowance of £8,730, which, on top of his salary as a solicitor with a large London firm isn’t bad going. If he continues to cosy up to the current Mayor, Steve Bullock (as he has done over the library issue in direct opposition to the wishes of the local electorate) he may get lucky and be given a cabinet post, which would add a further £13,600 to his pay packet.
And here we have the big, big problem with Lewisham’s “cabinet-style” government, a system rejected by all but a handful of local authorities in the UK. ALL power is vested in one man, ie the elected mayor. He has absolute power to hire and fire and any young councillor with his eyes set firmly on an eventual Parliamentary seat (KB has already tried once and failed) knows which side his bread is buttered on.
My point is that if Steve Bullock has decided to maximise income from the heath in whatever way he sees fit, there will be virtually no opposition from his council. Here’s hoping for a big NO to an elected mayor at the next local elections!
A residents nightmare. As a sportsperson and big fan of the Olympics who actually lives in the village, overlooking the church I cannot think of anything worse for even if it is for only 4 weeks out of my life. Any supporter of such a ludicrous, money making scam obviously do not live in the village, nor would they encourage it on their own doorstep. The noise from louts that unceremoniously spill out of pubs, inconsiderately dump rubbish in gardens and urinate the streets every other weekend is socially unacceptable and cannot be properly policed so how will daily events on a greater scale be policed.
Indeed. The Nimby concert…same idea. Why on earth did alcohol get approved for that event? Imagine the numbers at a rock concert dispersing through local streets. It’s as if the Council and Licensing live in an alternative universe. Policing at these events doesn’t stop the socially unacceptable behaviour you describe. It will be ‘soft’ policing and the residents will have to do the clean up themselves…never mind the noise nuisance. No one seems to understand how noise is conducted across open spaces and how weather conditions affect the noise spill. We don’t have the trees buffering noise that Hyde Park does. In the summer residents have windows open. Perfect storm a-brewing for both of these ill-conceived events. Vote these uninspired, grasping politicans out of office. They should all be worried about losing their jobs in 2014…the way things look they’ll hit the job market while we still have a recession.
Much as I dislike this idea, I don’t think being abusive about councillors is particularly helpful. Remember, they are volunteers and, even though they get their expenses covered, give up a great deal of personal time to work on behalf off all the borough’s residents. We elected them and we can replace them next time if we are unhappy and there are other individuals willing to take their place and put in the effort – will you be standing for election, Ms Gwynn?
I’d heard there was to be a flat-pack venue on the other side of the church but this is the first i’ve seen of it where they’re planning on putting the screen. It’ll be about 50 meters from my window. I was cosidering leaving the country for the 3 weeks of the Olypics and renting my place out, i think this has put the final decider on that!
I think it’s a brilliant idea and should be great fun. Public viewing of big sports events has worked well in other countries (eg Germany during the 2010 football worldcup) and brought lots of people together enjoying a one-off event. Realistically the Olympics will only be in London once in everybody’s life-time; we should make the most of it!
Wouldnt it have been a better idea to have some sort of actual sports event. Allow people to have a bash at a few different sports rather than just have a big outdoor pub. Anyone who thinks this is a great idea has clearly never had the misfortune to live near the village at kicking out time.
Great idea. As it’s a high profile event I’m sure it will be policed correctly. The local TA can always help out..
There are no spare policemen left in the box. All deployed already on tlimpix.
When you move to Blackheath is it a rule of entry to moan, whine and hate everything?
I have never read so much negativity in such a short space of time.
Give me strength.
Happy Olympics everyone!!!
Totally agree!! Some people need to get a life!! It ‘s a once in a lifetime event. There should be such festivities taking place in our open spaces and parks, so the wider public can be a part of it, especially considering the ticket debacle and the fact most people couldn’t get tickets. It’s a great idea
“There should be such festivities taking place in our open spaces and parks, so the wider public can be a part of it”
I don’t think that people have forgotten how to organise their own festivities.
I think that this might have to do with the ODA being desperate to show London as being “en fete” during the Olympics. There is quite a bit of damage limitation to be done, after Lord Coe’s talk of “siege city” and the announcement that Olympic security is to include surface to air missiles. If everyone is watching the Olympic events on tv in their own homes or in the pub, the ODA won’t be able to send the BBC helicopter around over London broadcasting pictures of a hoi polloi being “festive”. But I really think that Lewisham should think twice about taking the bread out of the mouths of pub owners. Times are hard enough as it is and going to get much harder in 2012.
I think Paul raises a good point about the tickets. I didn’t even bother to apply for any once I read about the cost and the awful way people had to wait and see if £500 was going to randomly disappear from their bank accounts on a random date that no-one knew! Total crap!
I hope Greenwich Council do something of a similar nature or join in with the Lewisham event… maybe this is a good opportunity to do so after the fireworks crap of the last two years.
I have no objection to making merry but why choose the one location which will create maximum disturbance to residents? As with the pop festival, there are vast areas of Heath towards the A2 which are well away from people’s windows. Perhaps that’s why they are used for the circus, funfair and fireworks base?
“When you move to Blackheath is it a rule of entry to moan, whine and hate everything?”|
YESS! I’d like to show my whining credentials by saying how much I hate the new concrete circle in the middle of the heath and the tarmacked paths all over the place. This is supposed to be a heath (ie grassland) for heaven’s sake. Can our Kev let us know what this monstrosity cost local ratepayers and why it was installed without asking anyone if they wanted it?
The new concrete circle is the combined creation of the Blackheath Society and Lewisham Council. The Society gave “a substantial contribution” towards the cost and Lewisham Council payed the rest says the Society’s newsletters.
Apparently the circle is to mark the 75th anniversary of the Blackheath Society.
Although the Society expect to be consulted about changes to the heath, as far as I know (?) the Society did not ask either its members or the wider public if they thought this was a good idea.
The Jan 7 6:05pm comment about the circle is my post. Accidentally came out as Anonymous.
fixed!
Would you prefer the paths remained the pot-holed obstacle courses they were before being hurriedly repaired for Green Flag inspection last year? I’m sure the mothers with pushchairs taking their kids to and from school would have been delighted.
Or revert to no tarmac at all? That would result in the kinds of knee-deep mud slews that can be seen in pictures of the Heath in Victorian times.
Seems as though there’s a lot of support for the Kevin ‘I am listening’ led Blackheath throat clearance, projectile vomiting and urinating competitions as the Lewisham contribution to the Coe ‘let’s make Britain proud’ fortnight (these are after all ‘sports’ we train for regularly and lead the world).
Go Kevin!!!
Afterthought: all crowded places during the Olympics will be terrorist targets. Why create another terrorist target, unnecessarily, and so close to homes and businesses?
I would like to say that I do live in the Village and I think this is a fantastic idea. I can’t wait to get some friends together on the heath and enjoy the festivities. I will be giving it my full support and urge all like-minded Blackheath residents to do the same. For those of you complaining about traffic, noise, disruption and potential terrorist targets (get a life!) may I direct you to a place called Thomas Cooks. While your away enjoying the peace and quiet, we’ll be celebrating once of the greatest shows ever to come to our great city of London, right here on our doorstep! We must make a stand against these nimbys (and I don’t mean the upcoming festival organisers, which I am also supportive of).
Thank you, Pedro, for offering to pay for me to travel elsewhere while you enjoy yourself. If you provide an email address, I will forward the bill. [As you may have guessed by now, those of us who have lived in the village most of our lives are not necessarily rich. Or even employed.]
And that’s about one decibel below the required level of snark that might lead me not to publish an anonymous comment. Be nice or leave.
Pedro you took the words out of my mouth, myself and my friends will be joining you and your friends to soak up some atmosphere and take advantage in this once in a lifetime opportunity,
I imagine that there are some people on here who take great pleasure in whining regardless of the topic. For the record I don’t think Pedro’s comment contained any snarl and was merely a reflection on previous posts.
Thank you Anonymous (erm the nice one). To the other less nice Anonymous, you make a great point – with the on-going economic and unemployment issues, enterprises like this are just what is needed to bring capital into the village and create employment opportunities!
Pedro
This is great news. I live in Blackheath and am very pleased we’ll have an enjoyable, communal way to enjoy the Olympics, outdoors, and for free. It’s these aspects of the Olympics that I’ve really been looking forward to since London won the bid, when all the public can get together in the sunshine for a shared experience, and the buzz that creates. Imagine the atmosphere for a race or event where we’re in with a shout of a medal! And nothing will go much past 9.30 from a noise point of view.
It will really be a unique, once in a lifetime atmosphere and event, without having to travel to a screen or park in central London, so I’m going to be making the most of it!
And if it rains …
All back to yours?
Just remembered something. This is something Lewisham Council should factor into its decision-making. There are no portaloos left in this country available for next summer. Even LOCOG is having to buy or hire them in from the Continent.
I’m sure the Cactus Pit will charge £1 ago to use their facilities
This is going to be the most exciting event to to happen to the village ever . I’m looking forward to it . That’s the bonus for living in the capital city .
Bulldozed,
You’re right, being a councillor isn’t being a volunteer, though nor is it supposed be a career in itself. I do combine my role with a full time job and that’s plenty! But I also think it’s healthier for local democracy to have representatives from as many backgrounds as possible.
Say what you like about the mayoral system (I think you’ll find that in non-mayoral systems whoever is the majority leader can in practice have a lot of power concentrated in his or her hands), but I don’t depend on the mayor for favours. He didn’t appoint me as a councillor; Blackheath voters did. Nor did he choose me as a candidate; fellow members of the Blackheath Labour Party did.
Yes, we are in the same party, which means we share a similar political outlook and there is a common approach to local issues. But our roles are different – the Mayor is elected by people across the whole of Lewisham; I am elected by people in my ward. That means that on an issue like the library, when the Mayor had to come up with proposals for budget cuts across Lewisham and it was suggested to him that Blackheath library be one of those closed, I lobbied him together with local Labour members and many residents to keep a public library service in the heart of Blackheath. Many of us are now trying to get the new library service up to the standard that most people want, and there’s still much to do!
In view of “Bulldozed’s” comments above on Councillor Bonavia and other criticisms by other anonymous contributors of other specific individuals that appear here from time to time on various threads …
… don’t you think, Mr. Bugle, it’s time you started to insist that you’ll only publish stuff on the Blackheath Bugle if contributors have the courage to drop their anonymity and start using their real names?
I am sure Kevin Bonavia as a local politician is quite capable of fighting his own corner. But to my mind anonymous criticism published on an exceedingly local blog like this can if not watched carefully turn into the same sort of creeping gangrene as the “poison pen” letter.
It’s a tricky one. I’m anonymous. I can’t demand that others aren’t – it wouldn’t be fair. Believe me, I don’t publish every comment. If I think it’s too mean, racist, or unpleasant, I either edit it, and make it clear that I’ve done so, or I write to the commenter if they include an email address, and explain why it hasn’t been published.
I think I agree with Michelle, about dropping the anonymous option. I now I’m ThePirateKing, but I’d happily use a real name if everyone else did.
I see your point as well Bugle – but you’re not anonymous – you’re the Bugle. Perhaps a useful halfway house might be to not accept totally anonymous comments and make everyone register and create an identity. There are a few advantage with that: 1/ You could see the same identity post across the website (as you can follow my PirateKing posts if one wished to) and 2/ It would take a few minutes for new punters to register before firing off a rude email and that might give them time to cool down a bit.
Just a thought.
I am reading articles everywhere saying I won’t be able to get into the City to get to work and thus I will be working from home. The plan, with my flatmates, is to enjoy some of this time on the heath. We would of BYO’d alchole and purchased fruit/pizza from the local shops on the way. I can only think that an organised event will add structure to what would have been a frequented area already. Appreciate that it is near homes but where is your Olympic spirit – surely you weren’t planning of sitting at home for the time given it is (hopefully) beautiful summer weather. 2011 wasn’t the best PR for London with the riots it will be nice to show the world that there is more to us then that.
I think it would be good to know more about what the council are planning. If its a relaxed, watching the sports, sunny afternoon thing then I think that is in the spirit of what the heath should be used for. But the thing about a late night license for music and drinking from noon til 10.30 and the numbers of people makes me think it will be much more disruptive than that. I live near the site and I wonder why they can’t move it further away from the village, where the carnival normally goes.
On knowing more (and putting suggestions), there are two upcoming opportunities, which have just been confirmed:
First, the Council’s manager for the event (called the Olympics Live Site) will give an update on the planning and organisation at the next Blackheath Assembly, which is open to all people who live, work or study in Blackheath. You should shortly get a flyer through the letterbox, but in case you don’t, it’s at 7.30 pm on Thursday, 26 January, at St Matthew Academy, St Joseph’s Vale, SE3 0XX. The Assembly will also get a chance to discuss the effect of the new Localism Act with our MP, Heidi Alexander, and get updates from some of the local organisations that received funding from the Assembly recently.
Second, there will also be drop-in sessions for local residents with maps and plans plus representatives from LOCOG, Transport for London and the Council to answer questions on what’s happening in Blackheath during the Olympics generally, including traffic management, parking and the Olympics Live Site. These will be held in the Clarendon Hotel on Montpelier Row between 12 pm and 8 pm on Friday, 3 February and between 10 am and 4 pm on Saturday, 4 February.
Nice to see the Fun Police out in force for this idea. I think it’s a tremendous idea for a complete one-off event in most of our lifetimes. Who knows how popular – or indeed unpopular it could become – I notice that people are immediately assuming it’ll be a roaringly busy success. It might hiss it down for the 3 weeks of the Olympics !
The only restriction I would have is for it to end when the events end – which I presume would be never long after 9pm. Shut the bars then and people can drink in the pubs. My only concern would be the usual litter problems that come with anything that happens on the Heath.
Yet again I find it depressing that anyone showing concern about a major public event are dismissed as “Fun Police”. Many – maybe most – of those worried about the pop festival and this latest “celebration” are relaxed about the Heath being used for its prime purpose – public enjoyment. They do not, after all, drone on about the fais, circus, fireworks, funruns, etc.
It is the way they are being organised that raises concern. Both seem deliberately sited close to homes when they could easily be located further towards Greenwich Park.
Changes in rail services or restricted traffic lanes seem to be considered legitimate concerns because they impact on the lives of those using these every day. Why, then, cannot those same people understand the fears of disruption to hundreds of people living around the two sites?
I think that’s because the worst that will happen it there’ll be a bit of noise, and basically, so what.
It won’t last long.
It’s also because most people don’t have that much sympathy with people who are lucky enough to live that close to the heath, but often appear (to the rest of us) but do little than moan about anyone making a bit of noise on it.
Well said ThePirateKing – and some previous comments (about the 3-day OnBlackheath event ) where one contributor said her ‘children will be kept awake and have school the next day’ takes the biscuit – tell the little ******** to shut up when I’m enjoying my Sunday coffee in ‘your’ Blackheath then…
So it’s all about envy. The fact that someone lives on/near the Heath negates any right to query the location of an event in front of their windows which will result in “a bit of noise” generated by thousands of people, 12 hours a day for THREE WEEKS. [One wonders what qualifies for “a lot of noise”?] People on/near the Heath must pay for their “luck”.
Let’s ignore the fact that they may have lived there since long before it became unaffordable. Let’s assume, without an iota of evidence, that they have not been litter-picking, graffitti-scrubbing and chipping into funds for protection since long before many on here discovered this haven of calm. Let’s ignore the fact that there are vast areas of the Heath where these events would be more tolerable.
Let’s also follow the logic by encouraging rave parties in the streets of St Johns and the Cator Estate. Who can have any sympathy for people rich enough to live there?
Re Anonymous Jan 14 at 11:41am
It’s not about envy.
It’s just about you stopping complaining about a good event that will bring people together in the sunshine to enjoy themselves.
I didn’t ask you to scrub graffitti off a wall. And I haven’t seen the contract where you get to decide what happens on the public land of the heath in exchange.
Relax and let people enjoy themselves.
OK. I’ll stop complaining if you drop me an email with your address so I can arrange to bring my mates for two weeks of partying outside your windows. You wouldn’t deny us the chance to enjoy ourselves, would you?
is this going to be upwind or down wind from the stables? that migh impact attendance :)
Frankly the games are going ahead, so would everyone just suck it up and embrace the opportunity to get out in the sunshine, and get to know your fellow lackheathen’s
I live on South Row, and rather than sit indoors and winge about the noise, I’m going to get out and be apart of this once in a life time event
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I think its a great idea, I might only live “close” to the area, but we will either hop on a bus or walk up, instead of doom & gloom – (“woe, woe & thrice woe!” as our Senna – sorry Indigo is apt to say) instead of hoping that the Olympics will disappear in a puff of magical smoke, lets all try and enjoy the experience, be neighborly & just get on with it. Yes there will be more traffic, yes going to work is going to be a nightmare, but we have coped with worse in London & survived so stiff upper lip and all that lets get on with it! I AM going to enjoy the Olympics, with my family who will get memories of a life time from this year, we will go & watch & cheer.