Friday, August 26, 2011

Please do something: All I want is sleep!

Eight days ago I started having sleepless nights, not a bad conscience, simply Brighton and Hove Council. They have installed a high powered lamp opposite my house, it lights up all the rooms on the street side of my house, basicly making half the house unusable. Even putting blankets over the windows does no good, it is still almost as bright as day. I can type in my office without a light on.

To avoid the light I have been sleeping in a chair or on the floor, on the opposite side of the house, and of course I don't sleep, because of that I have had headaches and I've been falling asleep during the day and generally feeling ill for the last few days.
Sleep deprivation is a dreadful thing!

Normally in the summer people want to come to stay, I have had to put them off or I've booked them into local guest houses.

I have contacted Brighton & Hove Highways Dept they promised to do something about it in a few days, that was over a week ago. I contacted Mr and Mrs Kitcat, the two Green councillors for this ward, they were told that nothing at all could be done until a particular person got back from her holiday! She alone controls Brighton's light switches.
I got a better answer than they, though perhaps less truthful.

The light is supposed to just illuminate a zebra crossing, the thing is no-one uses that at night, the street is so quite outside of shopping hours, people just cross the road where they want to. I asked if any study had been done to justify the expense and of course they hadn't, they are not obliged to. I'm not going to rant about the the Council's waste of money today, maybe tomorrow.

I am not asking for anything extraordinary, just for them to turn the light out so people can sleep here at night. They can focus the light when they are back from Umbria or the Majorca or wherever.

In another country one might suspect a bit of religious harassment, those of you from abroad should't think it is that, it is just Brighton and Hove are inefficient and don't give a dam, and are on holiday!

Help me get some sleep, please.

Contact Brighton and Hove Council and just send a message, "Please do something about the light outside Fr Ray's house, please, please", especially if you are from Arkansas or Dehli, Krakow or Dux, Majoolah or Oobagumbi, or even Brighton.

Power of the Blog
It is now 10.30pm, just finishes Catechism and the light is OUT - I am so grateful - thank you very much.

Or maybe not
Saturday 8.05am, I have just opened my emails, there seems to be glitch, one sent yesterday but arrived today, said that the Highways Dept were going to remove the bulb!

25 comments:

Mervyn said...

Kitcat's they are useless, like the rest of the Greens. All show no action!
I hope you didn't vote for them, Fr. but maybe that is why they won't do anything, they know no Catholic priest could possibly vote for them.

David said...

I have sent this to B&H as suggested: For God's sake do something about the light shining on Fr Ray Blake's bedroom window! He is a valued and caring priest who is being prevented from doing his job properly by the inability of B&H to turn off a light. If I lived in Brighton I would be very tempted to subject the light to a "fatal accident". Please respond telling me that this simple action has been done.

John said...

Will do!

Alison Wagstaff said...

Message sent.

Flambeaux said...

My solution has always been to encourage some lads to play ball near the light.

A ball flying through the air inevitably takes out a light...

Were you in the States, I'd suggest a .22 would be even more effective.

Patruus said...

Google for "blackout curtains". These might be advantageous even once the immediate problem is resolved.

nickbris said...

SUB-STANDARD staff,probably vegetarians short of nourishment.

The light is obviously causing a nuisance and the Council has a duty of care to all residents,if they go on holiday they have to leave somebody competent in charge.

If the nuisance is creating illness then there may be grounds to call on the NO-WIN NO-FEE charlatans who are constantly offering to get compensation for injuries.

Marie said...

EYE MASK for sleeping.

Cheap from Boots or elsewhere. They are comfortable.
I used one in hospital without which I would have gone barmy and my recovery definitely delayed!

Toby said...

"I am not asking for anything extraordinary"

That's unlike you Father, normally you're promoting the extraordinary!

berenike said...

Have done :)

Mick said...

Just sent this via their webpage

Dear sir / madam,

You may laugh, you may sneer
You may sit and drink your beer
You may think that I don't matter
That I am just full of chatter

When you read what I am about to write,
In the morning, after the night,
Please be sweet, not fussy or trite,
Please turn off Fr. Ray Blakes stadium FLOODLIGHT !

Thank you !

Dorothy B said...

If you can't get the council to do the decent thing, try Dunelm Mill for blackout curtains. The material has a special coating on the reverse. I think your nearest branch is at Eastern Avenue, Shoreham. (I don't have shares in the firm!)

You'll need a good overhang at each side and below the window-sill, and may have to secure the material to the window-frames by some means, to reduce and if possible eliminate any leakage of light at the edges. You might consider asking the council to refund what you pay for them.

Would the local paper be interested in the story?

I do hope a speedy solution is found to this awful problem.

margaret said...

Have done :)

pelerin said...

Message sent to council. I shall also put a letter through the door of our local councillor who is a near neighbour - pity I did not know a couple of days ago when I spoke to her in a local shop. She had enquired about my stick and I explained the cause was the uneven pavements here!

Unfortunately this is a bank holiday weekend when I imagine little is done.

Alison said...

Doh! I have just told B&H Council that Fr Ray can't afford blackout curtains, and the light needs to go out without delay so he can get some sleep!

pelerin said...

PS I think Dorothy B's idea is a good one - approach the Argus.

Anonymous said...

Farther, I did it too!

Richard said...

Pelerin - "approach the Argus"?

Indeed a hundred-eyed giant would be particularly annoyed by an extremely bright light, and might smash it for Father.

But are there any in Brighton? I thought they were a Greek myth.

Anonymous said...

Father, I have sent my letter to the B&H City Council road&traffic and environmental protection teams. A copy is forwarded in your email. Oh, I just found a few misprints, but hope it could be one of the many buckshot..

pelerin said...

Great news Father - sleep well!

Toma Blizanac said...

I sent this:
---
Please do something about the light outside Fr Ray's house, please, please, please!
He's a decent priest and deserves a good night's sleep after working hard during the day!
Thank you!

Greetings from Zagreb, Croatia.

Christina said...

Message sent Father Ray .

nickbris said...

Well Done Father,that's our second Victory since we got rid of the CCCTV sign outside the church.

Now we have to get rid of parking wardens on Christmas Day and Easter Sunday

Pablo the Mexican said...

Padre,

Don't any of the boys in your Parish have slingshots or B-B guns?

*

Kay said...

Hopefully, the problem with the extreme illumination has been taken care of by now. However, I live in Arkansas and thought it fitting to write on your behalf, just in case:-)

Thanks for your blog and we pray for priests every day.

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