To be glad I don't live on the Notting Hill Carnival route? (Long!)

[worraliberty]

Just sitting here thinking that this will be the first time in 4yrs that my BIL, SIL and their 2 DD's won't be coming to stay with us to escape the Carnival (they've managed to move away.)

But I still feel sorry for a lot of the residents who, like my BIL and SIL don't have a great deal of choice about having to live on the route...mainly because they'd waited years for a council flat and a lot of residents can't sell up and move for whatever reason. The Council pay for and organise a weekend away for the residents aged over 65..but anyone else has to leave at their own expense or put up with it.

When the carnival first started over 40yrs ago, it was a much smaller, quieter affair and would probably have been a lot of fun living in the midst of it.

But they said the flat literally used to shake with the booming noise and there was no way they could settle the kids down, trying to enter or leave their flat was almost impossible and quite scary with the massive crowds. On top of that, there were people urinating absolutely anywhere...mainly against resident's front walls/doors and across shop shutters.

This is taken from the council website.....

"The Council wants to set a maximum level of 135 decibels. This is still extremely loud as standing next to a pneumatic drill is measured at 110 decibels. By setting a peak level of 135 decibels the Council hopes it can reduce the average sound levels people coming to carnival will be exposed to."

Apart from anything, the emergency services are unable to hear their radios with the music so loud...and there are laws to prevent anyone from being exposed to noise above 137dB, because hearing can be damaged very quickly at this volume. Yet in recent years the noise level has often been recorded at 140db. Every time they're asked turn it down..they turn it back up again later.

So AIBU to agree with the residents who for years have been calling for it to stay in Hyde Park due to the sheer numbers it attracts now (over 1 million) and the level of noise and disruption it causes?

People who have council housing in those areas of London should think themselves very lucky. Carnival is one weekend a year, and a very very small price to pay to live in subsidised accomodation in that location.

You say people that own can't move. I would disagree in the majority of cases, most people that can afford property in Notting Hill could afford to move. They would probably choose not to move just because they are disruped for one weekend of they year though.

My best friend lives in Reading, where the festival is this weekend. The town gets taken over completely, as I'm sure it does for every other festival location, but it's hardly that big a deal. Just plan around it.

It's great if you don't live or have a business on/near the route. People pee in your garden and nick your plant pots.

Just a comment in respect of people in Notting Hill who live in social housing. Like many in the area, I rent from a housing trust and pay a fair (and relatively high) rent subsidized by no-one. The fixtures and fittings are ordinary and if my home was transplanted elsewhere no one would look twice at it. Many people are like me, born and brought up in the area long before it was fashionable. In my opinion we have a right to live here - we don't have to doff our caps and be thankful for being "allowed" to inhabit housing for the "deserving poor" just because rich people decide an area is desirable.

As for the noise and nuisance - yes it is unpleasant to have your doorstep/yard used as a drinking den, toilet, rubbish bin and to have the drunk, stoned and plain criminal hanging around. The noise is awful but we only have to put up with it a couple of days a year. My kids are involved in carnival and love it and it means a great deal to a lot of locals and Londoners generally.

I think YABU. It is just two days a year, and the carnival has been going on for decades; it's not like it's suddenly been sprung on the residents. Yes it is big, it is noisy and can be a pain but it isn't like that every day. One of the disadvantages of living in Central London is that there are tons of things going on, which are disruptive (and billions of clueless tourists).

Now the Olympics .. I'm hoping to be away when that mess starts.

As for it being unreasonable to have it in a residential area, the NH carnival was instigated and nurtured and developed by local residents! It is part of the history of the area, and while it undoubtedly presents some challenges and disruption for some, it is the heart of a community initiative for others.

I don't live in the area, but have close connections to one of the mas bands that play, and have taken part. Hundreds of residents take part, thousands of residents have parties and enjoy and encourage the bands as they pass through, getting a ringside view.

The Notting Hill Carnival has grown to an extent that it is completely unsuited to a residential area and IMO it should be moved to a more suitable venue such as Hyde Park.

What are 'the undoubted benefits of Carnival' hester?

My BIL and SIL felt far from lucky to live there in the slum the council put them in. I think a lot of people think that because it's an affluent area, it's all lovely...sadly it's not.

Yes it was organised by the residents themselves over forty years ago, but it's actually the residents who no longer want it there that I feel sorry for. It's a completely different event now to what it was years ago and I do think I agree with those who say it should be moved from the residential area to Hyde Park.

I have lived here for yonks and DH has lived here since early carnival days!

It has just got so huge - droves of people slowly crawling down the road, roads and shops closed, litter everywhere, plus the additional crime that goes with any large gathering. You have to park your car miles away (got fed up with the break-ins, keyings and broken arials) and people dump their rubbish/pee/puke on your front doorstep. And nick your plants and knock over your plant pots.

It is a pain but if yopu are a local you manage it. You either join in, batton the hatches or go away for the weekend.

izzy: Carnival is an important part of Caribbean heritage, and its celebration here is an important expression of Caribbean heritage and resistance to racism (remember its origins in the context of the Notting Hill riots etc). It brings great joy to a huge number of people, not least the hundreds who spend all year designing and making costumes and floats, practising music etc. It attracts people from all over the UK and beyond. it makes money for any number of local businesses and traders. I'm sure there's many more.

I hate loud music almost as much as I hate crowds, so it is my idea of hell on earth. But I understand why it is loved and important to many others.

I live on a carnival route (not NH though) and it does have it's downsides. We have to use ear defenders for the baby even in the house and there is a sound system positioned right outside our window that goes on til the early hours. At least ours only lasts a day.

I think it's easy for people to say how important it is for the carnival to remain in a residential area when they are not living in that area themselves.

OP you sound like that hysterical teacher in the Simpsons "wont somebody please think of the CHILDREN?!" ;)

Carnival is one of the greatest things about Britain, I call it my Summer Christmas. Your family should be proud they live in such a great community, even if they dont wish to be part of it.

noir they don't live there. As I've said a few times...the flat was a slum and they feel they're very lucky not to have to live there any more.

I agree Carnival is a great thing...not sure about 'one of the greatest things about Britain' but that's personal opinion I guess.

If you're happy living on a Carnival route that's great for you...but as I say, I personally feel sorry for those who aren't happy and want it moved to the park now it regularly attracts over a million people.