Have you ever heard the slightly screechy sound of a Celine Dion song being blasted late at night? It was probably a siren battle, and they are happening across the country. In Porirua, many residents are not happy.
Porirua Mayor Anita Baker has been receiving complaints every weekend from residents plagued by the noise of sirens, attached to cars and bicycles, that carry on into the early hours of the morning. Paddy Gower Has Issues Community Investigator Karen O'Leary has made it her mission to help.
Karen has heard the term 'Siren Gangs', which Anita explains is not how she refers to them.
"I wouldn't call them a gang, they're a group of enthusiasts who love loud music".
While Anita doesn't want to shut them down, she has two major issues: firstly, they often play short bursts of music, and never the whole song. And secondly, the noise often continues beyond 10pm.
"The people who are listening would quite like the whole song rather than half a song," she said. "If they want to make their noise, we have to find some time for them."
Looking to get the other side of the story, Karen heads 'undercover' to a battle at the Porirua Mega Centre car park. Immediately she can see the fun everyone around her is having, and the amazing community of siren enthusiasts.
One of the judges at the event is Lower Hutt's Biondi Sio who explains the history of siren battles to Karen.
"First of all, I just want to give a shout-out to the originators in Auckland," Biondi notes before summing the event up: "It's an expression of love from sound."
"First round is clearness, it's not how loud it is, just how clear and clean the sound is. The second round is loud and clear. If it's a draw we'll run a drown-out. That's the fun one!"
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Karen can certainly see the fun that is happening but asks what Biondi thinks of the mayor's concerns about interrupting the nearby community's sleep.
"With a structured battle it is capped," he explains. Battles are supposed to finish at 10pm but sometimes individuals stay around and continue to blast sounds. That is not the kaupapa of the official siren battles, he adds.
"Whoever does whatever after that's on them."
Karen now finds herself in a pickle: she has had a great time at the siren battle, can see its value for participants and doesn't want to shut the whole thing down. She wants to help Anita, but the chances of reaching out to the stragglers who continue to make noise after the 10pm cap will be difficult.
While she might not be able to solve the issue completely, Karen is able to find some common ground between both sides. She brings Anita to a siren battle in Lower Hutt and introduces her to Biondi and other members of the community.
With Biondi's help, Karen is able to get Anita's favourite Guns N' Roses song played all the way through and get some of the Porirua-based siren battlers to speak with Anita. She explains her side of the issue, and while the story may not be over, a conversation has been established.
Mayor Anita thanks Karen. "Without you, it never would have happened". Chalk it up, another success story for Karen O'Leary.
If you have an issue you want tackled, let Karen know about it by emailing issues@paddygower.co.nz.
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