A bill of rights for residents!

dub45

I have come to the conclusion based on bitter experience that in the eyes of Dublin City Counclil Eircom ESB and so on the residents of an area have no rights when it comes to work being carried. No disturbance is too much no noise too loud no inconvenience too great that any allowance should be made for residents> I am interested in hearing from people who might be intereted in campaigning in some way or other for a 'bill of rights' for residents.

As I write (I live in the kilmainham area) I am sandwiched between Dublin City Council works in Mount Brown and further up the street work being carried out on behalf of Eircom by contractors.

Both have left huge holes in the ground covered over by steel plates whhich make incredibly loud noise every time a car goes over them and tonight thousands of cars will go over them. there are people trying to sleep with 10 yards of this noise. I can hear the noise in my bedroom with window closed and I live about 150 meters from the bloody thing. Can you imagine trying to get anights sleep with that racket going on?

Dublin City Council has left extra torture for the residents and the cars as they left their plates raised on a bed of tarmac so that cars are literally bashing into them. There of course is no warning of road works ahead or anthing sensible like that wh ich might cause the cars to slow a bit.

On Easter Monday last Dublin City Council started drilling at 7 am and they repeated the trick the following Sunday.

The workers doing this claimed that they were instructed to do it at such an early hour by the Traffic Dept.

There is no one to appeal to about any of this of course.

Increasing the citizens of Dublin are being treated as subjects by DCC and the rest of them.

Anybody want to join me in attempting to shout stop?

If this is the wrong place for such a thread or theres a simiilar one elsewhere I apologise but would still like to hear you views

Paddy20

dub45,

Every local Autority has a County chemist, whose responsibility is too ensure that the "constitutional" rights of all Irish citizens are protected, and he has the power to enforce your right:-

1, To the quiet peaceful enjoyment of your own home.
2, Your local Citizens Information Centre [CIC] will be able to inform you of what you can do about any disturbance outside of normal working hours or they can act on your behalf on the issue?.
3, A short letter explaining your problems addressed too your local County Manager based at your Local Authority can work wonders. Particularly, if you release a copy of your letter too the media, press, local radio etc. especially if you do not receive an acceptable reply in writing!.

Hope you find the above of some help.

Good luck.

Paddy20.;)

dub45

Paddy,

Thanks for replying however the problem is that it can take months to get a reply from DCC - there is nothing you can do to stop the actual interference when its going on or for instance to stop them putting down metal plates for instance and driving people mad. Until theres some guidelines for the employees doing the work nothing will happen.

I asked one of the workmen yesterday if as part of their training or induction they were given any instructions about minimising the impact of their presence on residents and he just looked at me in amazement.

bonkey

Originally posted by dub45
No disturbance is too much no noise too loud no inconvenience too great that any allowance should be made for residents

OK, I'm sure this isn't what you want to hear, but do you have a better solution?

For example :

Both have left huge holes in the ground covered over by steel plates whhich make incredibly loud noise every time a car goes over them and tonight thousands of cars will go over them.

From what I know, this is done so that when the work subsides over the next few months (as it will), you will end up with a plate which is reasonably flush with the road, rather than one which is permanently lower than the road, which would mean that once it gets there you would have just as loud a "thunk-thunk" as cars went over it, but you'd have it all the time, rather than until it subsides.

So you have a choice - suffer now for a while, or in a while forever. Option 3 is simply to say "not in my back yard", which isn't really a solution for anyone but yourself.

On Easter Monday last Dublin City Council started drilling at 7 am and they repeated the trick the following Sunday.

The workers doing this claimed that they were instructed to do it at such an early hour by the Traffic Dept.

Because the alternative to carrying out work in off-peak hours is to do it when the roads are absolutely mobbed, which cretes even more havoc.

There is no one to appeal to about any of this of course.

There is, but I'd like to know what your alternate proposals are?

dub45

I presume seeing as you are so glib about this that you have never had to put up with any of this crap?

Firstly Id like to say that you are not required to come up with alternative proposals before you are allowed criticise something-thats what I believe anyways.

Secondly can I ask you if you think people who live in busy areas should suffer in silence for the great God traffic?

Do you think that is is fair that someone should be asked to sleep withing thirty feet of thousands of cars rattling over a metal plate for whatever reason?

Do you think that it is reasonable to start drilling outside people's houses at 7 am on a bank holiday monday when it is equally possible to start at say 10 am?

You are wrong about the metal plates they are designed to cover up holes that have been dug so that work can be completed at a later date. The traffic could simply be diverted round the hole of course or the people who put them down could take greater care with the actual laying of them. It is also difficult to belive that in the age of 'miracles' that we live in that it is not possible to find an alternative to a rattling metal plate to cover a hole in the ground.

As I write this I am in my back garden (thanks to the wonders of a mac and airport extreme!) and although I am about 150 metres away from this hole in the ground every time a car goes over the bloody thing its like a mini explosion (and I am not exaggerating) do you really think that any citizen should have to put up with this for any reason (other than dire emergency)

So who do you suggest I appeal to about this?


By the way do you not think that it might be reasonable for DCC to at least notify the residents of an area when they propose to carry out works? Can you imagine lying sick in bed for instance listening to this type of thing or suppose you have invited visitors to spend a weekend or suppose your a student and you intended to study for a vital exam - would you really happily put up with this type of treatment?

bonkey

Originally posted by dub45
I presume seeing as you are so glib about this that you have never had to put up with any of this crap?

Ah yes - I dont fully agree with your complaint ergo I must be smug or glib and know nothing.

All I did was ask what you would like them to do - what your alternatives are. After all, if you want to complain, then its because you want things changed. I asked what you want them changed to, and that somehow makes me glib.

Firstly Id like to say that you are not required to come up with alternative proposals before you are allowed criticise something-thats what I believe anyways.

You want to complain, you want it fixed, but you want someone else to figure out how to fix it to your liking as well, because hey - its enough that you're unhappy.

To be honest - with an attitude like that, added to your immediate assumptions that I havent a clue what I'm talking about because I dont agree with you, I see no point in continuing the discussion with you.

jc

dub45

Ok as regards end of discussion and if you read my last post you would see that there are lots of suggestions in it!