The very first reply after his posting - which consisted only of this Blog address - was this :
" You whinging f****** wowser. You bought a house near an established motorsport venue so I have absolutely no sympathy for you"
Later on in the 'exchange of views ' it transpired that this person drives race cars at Ruapuna .
( It also transpired that the Templeton Resident hadn't 'bought a house near a motorsport venue' - he'd built his house , before the motor racing venue was out there )
Here is more from the same motor racing driver :
Unless you lived in your present location prior to the first meeting
held there on April 29th 1962 then you knew full well there was a
racetrack in the area before you purchased your property. If you didn't
do your homework before buying there it's you that's the moron. Even if
you did live there prior to this date, you had an opportunity to object
at the time, and at every time the facility has been extended since.
Historical inaction of your part doesn't give you any right to bleat and
moan now. If it will make you feel better I'll send you some earplugs,
otherwise just shut the f*** up because you haven't got a valid complaint.
His response is a common one ( although not always phrased so crudely) from some motor racing fans and it deserves comment on a few levels.
Firstly the use of the word " wowser " , this is a common taunt from people who force their noise onto others. It implies that the complainant has no sense of fun, is just a great big killjoy and is trying to "spoil it for others".
Similar insults/ comments are : " grumpy" , "boring old f**t " " whinging old geezer " " get out and have some fun " etc etc - ad nauseum. People who complain about stereos blaring at 2 in the morning are also often labelled as "wowsers ' or kill joys.
It seems that in the minds of noise fans, if you're not making a noise then its not ' fun '.
Our race car driving friend is right in one respect, many people DID buy homes in this area knowing that Ruapuna was there , although there are elderly people living here now have been here since before Ruapuna and a huge amount of people have lived here for 15 - 20 years , and longer , they all remember the days when noise was infrequent and the track was a good neighbour . That said , length of residence is not a factor when it comes to law , if you moved in last week you are still entitled to peace and quiet in your own home !
If it was a consideration then the Templeton Golf Course's "existing use rights" would surely overide the rights of Ruapuna to make noise, because the golf course was here WELL before the racetrack.
The township of Templeton ( previously known as Waterholes) was here for well over a 100 years before Ruapuna was dropped onto our doorstep.
A very big majority of the people who bought homes after Ruapuna was moved to this area did so BEFORE this noise problem started up. As one resident of 17 years often says " we lived here peacefully for 15 years and then two years ago Ruapuna became a problem, a BIG problem ".
Our race car driver is, however, incorrect in saying that people out here had the opportunity to object to the appalling new noise rules.
As many residents out here have commented " If we had known that Ruapuna was applying to change the rules we WOULD have objected - they didn't have the common courtesy to even inform locals through the local newsletter "
Our angry race car driver also seems to think that people living near Ruapuna "deserve" everything they get, what can we say ? ...... its nice to know that our fellow kiwis are so caring
Here are some quotes ( taken from petition forms and from emails ) from people who live in the Templeton Township:
" Noise as early as 9.00 am Sunday mornings - not fair- no peace & quiet dawn to dusk ! "
"No more - enough is enough "
" We do not want to be whiners - we moved into Templeton fully aware and accepting of Ruapuna but every weekend during summer is too much ! "
" ... thank you for organising this, the noise from Ruapuna really has become too much, my children, especially my baby, have trouble sleeping at night due to their excessive noise"
" If noise control think a Sallie Army band is too noisy what would they think of Ruapuna ! "
" I've been forced indoors countless times in a raging mood and often had to move away from Templeton for hrs, for respite. Videos, TV, radio, stereo turned well up have often failed to mask the noise, esp. on w/ends "
Note, these families all live more than 3km from Ruapuna , in the Templeton Village and beyond
Do YOU think they "deserve " this level of noise intrusion into their homes ?
Do you think people should HAVE to wear earplugs, as our friendly race car driver suggests , so that they can enjoy their own homes ?
We don't think anyone deserves this - we think that the Christchurch City Council should have protected residents and ratepayers from this amount of noise rather than exposing them to more.
Here's a more disturbing comment from our racecar driver :
" Incidentally, I now feel very tempted to remove some of the (expensive)
noise minimisation measures on my race car the next time I race at
Ruapuna, and I'm sure that after I publicise your point of view many of
my fellow competitors will feel the same way. Our vehicles would still
meet class requirements for noise, but will be noticeably louder than in
their normal race configuration. It might be time to understand that
you don't want to get into a pissing contest with the competitors -
based purely on numbers we will win every time. "
Yes, we know that based "purely on numbers " - and volume - you WILL win every time.
Your noise will always invade our quiet , we had noticed that too actually .
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