By Tsvetelina Stancheva
Complaints have been filed about the noise of children playing in the evening at Talbot Square Gardens. Because of the complaints, security guards are now locking the doors of the Square in the early hours of 5pm-6pm.
Many local parents are unhappy about that situation – but cannot do anything about it. Why? Because Hyde Park is just a three-minute walk away.
“I cannot understand why some people became so sensitive, especially to the noise of happy children playing. You forgot what it is to be a kid? And with what heart you are ‘pushing’ those children to play on the road,” said Lanisha Rogers, a 34-year-old mother of two.
But even though Hyde Park is close, many parents don’t have the time to take their children there every day and watch over them.
“I have no time to get ready, get my son and go to the park. I prefer to do my thing from home and just watch over the window and check on my child,” Rogers said.
So now, many of the children are continuing to play in the neighbourhood. But instead of kicking balls inside the Square, they are playing next to the road, where it’s extremely dangerous.
“The noise stays the same since the children are still playing next to the Square. There are no winning parties here,” said one of the security guards, who asked to be anonymous for fear of losing his job.
“For some the noise was too much but it is literally the same now. Children are not playing in the Square but next to it, with the only difference that their lives now are in bigger danger being so close to the main road.”
Even some locals who have no children do not mind them playing and cannot understand why they are triggering people.
“If you do not want noise, why move in central London? At least the noises you are hearing are of happy children, not a club music or junkies drugging themselves,” said Tom Miller, 29, a freelanced tech professional.
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