Now you can’t have fun at the BEACH: Wealthy homeowner demands families to keep the noise down at a waterfront playground because the sound reaches his multi-million dollar mansion
- Locals visiting Manly Lagoon Reserve Playground told to ‘keep the noise down’
- Outraged residents claim just one rich man with mansion nearby complained
- He is apparently concerned about property values and isn’t there often
- Off-leash dog park only frequented by families and dog walkers and isn’t loud
A local council is demanding families keep their dogs and kids quiet at a popular lagoon park after a rich resident complained.
A sign erected on Tuesday at Manly Lagoon Reserve Playground on Sydney’s northern beaches warns locals to ‘keep the noise down’ near surrounding multi-million dollar homes
‘While playing here please be mindful of excessive noise which is disruptive to residents living nearby,’ it reads.
‘Thank you for helping make this park enjoyable for all.’
A sign erected on Tuesday at Manly Lagoon Reserve Playground on Sydney’s northern beaches warns locals to ‘keep the noise down’
Outraged local Martijn Timmer (pictured with his wife and family) said one ‘wealthy old man’ who owned a mansion overlooking the off-leash dog park was behind Northern Beaches Council’s move
Outraged local Martijn Timmer said one ‘wealthy old man’ who owned a mansion overlooking the off-leash dog park was behind Northern Beaches Council’s move.
‘I’m there every day with my kids and my dog and there is no excessive noise,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘There’s only families and the normal noise you would expect from the playground and park. At night it’s dead quiet.’
The marketing consultant said the complaining resident was able to convince the council to put up the sign amid ongoing debate about the park’s management.
Mr Timmer said the complaining resident was able to convince the council to put up the sign amid ongoing debate about the park’s management
‘There’s only families and the normal noise you would expect from the playground and park,’ Mr Timmer said
‘He’s not even here for months at a time, he has properties in Adelaide and country Victoria and complains every time he comes back,’ he said.
‘But he’s a wealthy, well-connected man. That’s Australia for you, an old angry man controlling the majority.
‘The saddest part is that it isn’t about noise, but about property value.’
Management of the park is a local flashpoint with groups of residents arguing over various issues to do with it, such as whether to install lights or allow dogs to be off leashes.
Management of the park is a local flashpoint with groups of residents arguing over various issues to do with it, such as whether to install lights or allow dogs to be off leashes
Such issues are typical in the northern beaches, which has long been derided as the ‘insular peninsula’ for being unwelcome to outsiders.
Locals have claimed it is a ‘better version of Sydney’ and that there may as well be passport checks at the Spit Bridge.
The area is famously difficult to get to and from due to choking traffic and its refusal decades ago to have a train line for fear it would bring the ‘riff raff’ in.
Household income is comfortably above average and eight of Sydney’s 10 most expensive suburbs are found there.