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Alton Towers/Ropers noise complaint rolls on

SaiyanHajime

CF Legend
What I genuinely do not comprehend about all this...

- You never hear complaints about legitimate sounding arguments... Such as the obvious traffic problem, or the volume of guests exiting the park and the noise they make, the rubbish they leave, etc.
- Despite other residence not having the grounds the Ropers do to complain, if they supported the case in some way it would give the Ropers more impact massively. But no one does.
- I just, I ... I don't understand what the Ropers are actually hearing and how it can possibly, possibly, possibly be as loud as they say. I just don't get it. I mean, without sounding rude, I think they are hearing things? Like, when this all started, granted I'm sure there was a problem but they are old now and the sounds must just merge in with everything else. How could they possibly, honestly, really tell it apart from just the sounds of life itself? There is no way if my mum who is blatantly younger than them can't hear car alarms going off outside they can hear Alton Towers. It's just not... possible?
- I was surprised the fireworks came back, it does seem like Alton are pushing it with that. But, do they realise that for a few nights a year no matter where they lived they'd hear fireworks? Like. I. What? Fireworks go off from before it even gets dark until after midnight where I live every night for a couple of weeks. Without Alton, that traditional village would have MORE firework displays than where I live, because the people who live there clearly have more money to spend, larger gardens and are more likely to engage with traditional British festivities, surely?
- How has this legal battle been allowed to go on for so long? If Alton are in the wrong then why haven't they been stopped and if the Ropers are in the wrong why haven't they been done for harassment?

The complaints came from:
- Causing unwarranted screaming due to theme (i.e. Oblivion).
Thing with this is that they wouldn't know this unless they went and actually done some research. There is no way they just made that connection. I bet that was Alton trying to fob them off "if we remove this provokative audio, people will be quiet!" As if. I only wish theming had that effect on people.

Going back to the "how the hell can they hear it" thing, I want to elaborate. I can, where I live, constantly hear the sound of cars on tarmac. 24/7. And the sound of my cockatiels screaming. So, I don't hear it, because I'm used to it?

After however many years, how do they distinguish noises from Towers? I don't... understand. I'd love to go there and listen myself, but the thing is that WOULD NOT be an accurate portrayal of what they ACTUALLY hear because there is NO WAY they have as good hearing as me in my early 20s and there is NO WAY they can distinguish the noises as keenly as someone who's not familiar with those surroundings.

I'm sorry, but they are ****. It's just that it's gone SO far they are obsessed.
 

marc

CF Legend
As I said before we live as close to AI as they do Alton and we can pick out the sounds of Rage and the drop tower, some days you can even hear the rides that are the other side of the pier.
 

Inverse

Hyper Poster
I'm positive that they can hear it and clearly. I'm also sure that it'd be very annoying. I'm just not sure that they can possibly achieve what they seem to want to achieve, but I think they're aiming high to get anything at all. Realistically, I think they can achieve a situation where volume will be monitored by frequent measurements and a fine imposed on AT for breaching an agreed volume. Chances are AT will be able to get the rules relaxed for certain special events, X number of days a year to cover fireworks and concerts etc.
 

furie

SBOPD
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Considering making Joey an Ignorant Fish... ;)

One point I made was that the Ropers had the judge of their case round for tea. The judge said the noise was not only clear, but it made the windows vibrate.

If you want to know why the case has gone on so long and as far as it has... Let's look at the impartiality of the judge in question, taking tea with the Ropers and submitting his "expert noise assessment" into the case. As soon as it went to a different judge, the noise abatement order was changed. Funny that.

Would you like to be a fish Joey, or a cephalopod?
 

SaiyanHajime

CF Legend
See, I don't think I'm being ignorant. I accept that Towers must make a hell of a noise, but I just don't buy their argument that it is bothering them as much as they claim, because I don't buy that they would notice it were they not trying ever so hard to.

As someone who suffers massively from sensory overload, particularly from sound, I thin I have a right to call ****. I am forever effected by noise pollution that no one else can even hear.

I'm sticking with my "If my mum cannot hear a car alarm outside there is no way those corpses can hear Oblivion screamers" argument. :p

There is just no way it "rattles their windows" for example. Perhaps they have very old fashion windows, but even then it must be infrequent. Occasionally I get a hum of vibrating window panes from someone driving past with their bass up too high, but you'd have to be so pedantic to call that out.

As I said before we live as close to AI as they do Alton and we can pick out the sounds of Rage and the drop tower, some days you can even hear the rides that are the other side of the pier.
I think the difference is that you're familiar enough with those things to instinctively pick them out and you're not 100 and something years old. Not only that, it's the level to which they are bothered by it. How, after this many years, are they STILL so bothered by it? It's bollocks, it really is.
 

furie

SBOPD
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Administrator
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Ignorant of my post already answering these questions, not ignorant in general :p

You may not like the answers, but they're the answers. I doubt the windows are rattled either, but Mr Justice Backhander (random name) seems to agree with the Ropers ;)
 

nealbie

CF Legend
Ignorance is stating that other people should not find things offensive/displeasing just because you don't. Everyone is unique, Joey, I'd think of all people you should respect that. ;)

Plus, furie is right. I say we give him a cap, bubble pipe and magnifying glass and set him loose on Alton Towers to get to the bottom of it. :p
 

Inverse

Hyper Poster
Well, if that doesn't deserve a fish, I don't know what does! :)

They're not THAT old, mid to late 60s? I don't wish to start a debate on it. I also risk repeating what Furie was saying many many posts ago. Your situations are incomparable. Farley minus the towers would be pin-drop quiet. Southend (with reference to Marc hearing AI) isn't. I live next to a major road out of Reading, yes I hear traffic 24/7 and yes I can ignore it, but the sound is a constant near soft noise. A theme park isn't like that. The coasters themselves might be ignorable but the screams will be penetrating and periodic, and as everyone seems to be ignoring the music will be head-poundingly repetitive... it's extremely hard to ignore music.

Now I sound like I support the blooming Ropers, don't get me wrong, I don't. But I can have understanding that it'd be annoying. Moving many years ago would have been the best option. Farley is nice, but no nicer than any other of the thousands of rural villages in Britain.
 

furie

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Noise is a really funny thing. I live 3 miles from the M6 and about the same from the nearest train track.

At night I can sometimes hear both. Though neither rattle my windows.

We live about a mile from the common. When the fair is in, you can hear it clearly from the street. Not the screams, but certainly the music. I imagine that those closer will get window rattling - however, the noise is considerably louder than anything I've heard at Alton. Maybe there's unique acoustics in play, or maybe I do indeed need to don my deerstalker...
The game is afoot!
197539_1002153087772_1043162436_904_9353_n.jpg
 

nealbie

CF Legend
Don't mention feet! It's comments like that that will get Will all excited - at least he can be your Watson! :p
 

marc

CF Legend
True Joey I am not bothered by the noise of the rides but some people might be and thats the problem here.

Do not get me wrong I don't agree with the Ropers I am just pointing out to people whole claim you can hear nothing outside the park, you can do and even if they sand fill coaster you will still hear things.

If I was the Ropers I would have moved years ago and just got on with my life, but they are not like that so they will keep on coming back every now and again as they feel they have something to fight for. Each time they lose they then try something different.
 

SaiyanHajime

CF Legend
nealbie said:
Ignorance is stating that other people should not find things offensive/displeasing just because you don't. Everyone is unique, Joey, I'd think of all people you should respect that. ;)
No, I agree with that.

What I don't get is that it is quite clearly not effecting their lives that much, given they haven't moved. That, to anyone reasonable, implies they are obsessed with the noises instead of genuinely being effected by it.

That's what I can't fathom.

They are hearing the noises BECAUSE they "want" (cant help it, but are in too deep and are obsessed with) to.

People are unique, but not enough to not see patterns in obsessive behaviour across individual examples.

As for the "they are only in their 60s" comment someone made. Mother is 59, she can't hear ****, neither can the Neanderthal of the same age I live with. So that's that.
 

nealbie

CF Legend
So you agree with accepting uniqueness, but still choose to use personal, unique examples in order to back up an argument against different unique individuals. I see. Fair enough. :p

I still like the idea of a Springfield-sized dome myself :roll:
 

SaiyanHajime

CF Legend
nealbie said:
So you agree with accepting uniqueness, but still choose to use personal, unique examples in order to back up an argument against different unique individuals. I see. Fair enough. :p
If we didn't do that we'd never come to a conclusion about anything ever. So, I don't buy this all or nothing logic.

The average 50+ year old has less than perfect hearing. That's just... factual.
 

marc

CF Legend
Dunno so much one of my mates sells hearing aides for a living and he said some 70 years old have perfect hearing, they might be ones that do. Plus if they cannot hear properly the sound we hear might be worse for them as they could hear it totally different.

I don't see why it's always them though other people there just get on with it I wish they would.

From what was said years ago they had new windows paid for and other things paid for, I bet in their house they cannot hear a thing it's just when their outside.
 

Martyn B

CF Legend
There is just no way it "rattles their windows" for example. Perhaps they have very old fashion windows, but even then it must be infrequent

I can't see screams causing the windows to vibrate, so it must be to do with the actual coaster. And the trains are dispatched qutie regularly on Bliv.

angelfish.gif
 

furie

SBOPD
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
^I was going to mention that Dave, but I thought people had more than enough to contend with as it was LOL!

furie said:
Just going to bold something here in the vain hope that people will actually read this post.

THERE IS A HUGE AMOUNT OF IGNORANCE OF THE SUBJECT IN THIS TOPIC

Things you need to know about this before you carry on. Anyone ignoring these facts will have their avatar replaced with a picture of a fish forever!!!

Sadly, due to a massive sense of humour failure, I'm not going to be doing this. So instead welcome to the same things brought up over and over and over and over and over again ad infinitum, ad nausea, ad tedium.

Sorry everyone :(
 
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