News

The filming of a carpet commercial at a View Street flat has incorrectly been associated with a number of noise complaints, despite the flat having a history of noise problems with neighbours. The ODT reported on Friday 14 March that the filming of a Godfrey Hirst Carpet Commercial at the “Backpackers” on View Street had seen noise control officers called there at 7am on a Sunday. However, the filming had taken place between 10 and 22 February, and the noise complaints were from a different property.

The article also reported that the filming, party and noise issues had left neighbours “tired, angry and, in one case, out of pocket,” and that neighbours were “outraged.” The article was subsequently removed from ODT online after a student from the flat contacted the ODT emphasising that the party was in no way connected to the filming of the advertisement, and a corrected article was published.

The corrected article confirmed that there had been a party while the advertisement had been filming at the upstairs flat on Friday 21 February and that there had been a noise complaint that night which ended the party at about 2.30am. Godfrey Hirst general manager Tania Pauling confirmed that the party was not organised by the film production company, nor was any alcohol supplied.

The retracted article also highlighted that luxury accommodation Chapel Apartments had estimated the “Backpackers” flat had cost them “thousands” because of noisy parties over the last four years. Critic spoke with Jon Ing from Chapel Apartments who said that the filming of the Carpet Commercial had not been disruptive but he has had problems in the past, particularly when you have “18 boy students all in one flat.”

“People that stay at my apartments spend about $400 a night and like to go to bed at midnight, but they can’t get to sleep until six in the morning [because of the noise].”

Ing said he’d “tried everything” but the “only serious step forward” was that the landlord of the flat had been issued with an “abatement notice,” requiring the landlord to lease the house to tenants that will not interfere with others’ lives. Ing said he’d also been approached by the TV show Neighbours at War, but he is “not very interested,” and “just wants a solution” to the noise problems.

Critic’s attempts to contact the occupants of the flat for comment were unsuccessful, but the student who contacted the ODT emphasised that the flat didn’t “want to get our neighbours offside.”