Two young Surry Hills residents have been detained by police after persistent noise complaints from a resident due to the irritating ‘clinking’ of their glass marbles.
City of Sydney Council and Surry Hills Police Area Command confirmed the arrest of Cecilia Paquin and Jezebel Jones, both aged 6.
This comes after Darlinghurst bar Black Bottle was asked to remove a sand pit from its back garden after noise complaints from a nearby resident due to the clinking of metal balls from the game pétanque, a French boules-like game.
“It was said to be irritating,” City of Sydney councillor Jess Scully whispered, not wanting to raise her voice for fear of a noise complaint.
Clinking noises are usually associated with restaurants and bars, where the collision of glassware, cutlery and plates is virtually unavoidable.
However, the clinking emanating from one Sydney venue has been ruled too “irritating” for local residents, forcing its owners to curb their patrons’ behaviour.
The noise came not from the kitchen, but during the French game petanque, which was played in the bar’s courtyard until the City of Sydney Council banned it.
The game, similar to bocce, requires players to throw metal balls towards a target.
It was introduced to the Black Bottle wine bar at Darlinghurst by its owners, who grew up playing the game in the south of France.
He and co-owner Lucas Cristofle built a small sandpit in the courtyard and encouraged customers to play, while enjoying a glass of wine.
However, not everyone enjoyed it.
The City of Sydney banned the game, after somebody complained about the sound of the metal balls colliding, but said it hoped to find a solution that “satisfies all parties”.
But in Sydney, seemingly, whatever residents want, residents get.
