«What is left for us to do? Maybe arm ourselves?”. This concludes the exasperated post that appeared on the Facebook page “Let’s take back Vanchiglia – Van Lieu” after yet another night of “bad” nightlife and the uproar that dominated the area of Piazza Santa Giulia until 4am on Saturday.
Here, residents have been fighting for some time a war against noise caused by the many clubs in the area, crowded with young people on weekends and even more so in the summer. People drink, party, occasionally a fight breaks out and for those who live here, normal daily activities such as resting, going out for a walk and even parking have become almost impossible.
“There are those who – the committee says – have taken a garage in via Catania and then come on foot, since there is never room for a car here.” Citizens made complaints, called the police and two years ago also attempted a legal case against the Municipality to have their right to rest recognized. The legal dispute is still ongoing.
«We have been training this group of residents for seven years – they say from the “Let’s take back Vanchiglia” committee – we left when the neighborhood changed. At the beginning it was nice that there was a bit of movement, we don’t want the cemetery under the house. After Covid, however, since there has been was the liberalization of outdoor spaces, the neighborhood is unlivablethey are everywhere, all we need is the outdoor seating on the bell tower. There are some made with pallets that get shorter during the day and longer in the evening. There is a monstrous degradation, there is no longer a wall that is not scribbled on. At night it starts around 11 and ends at 4, we are starting to have health problems”.
The first complaint with 357 signatures is dated 2018, a list of all the premises that according to those who live here violated some regulations. The fight continues in the following years, also with the help of the parish of Santa Giulia. After thousands of signatures collected and broken promises, residents choose to sue the Municipality.
«During the election campaign, Lo Russo – the group continues – promised us many things: the mayor of the night, a permanent presence but nothing happened. After complaints and hundreds of phone calls to 112, 34 of us have filed a lawsuit against the Municipality, for 2 years. This is our story: we have tried everything but nothing happens anyway. It’s one hellish night after another. Some had to resort to psychological treatment for the discomfort created, others installed new windows at their own expense to try not to hear the noise. Not to mention that our houses are now worth nothing, who would want to come and live here?”.
And we get to the last post and the reference to weapons. «We are exasperated here – conclude the residents – weapons are a provocation but we don’t know what to do. We’ve been trying to assert our rights for years but nothing ever changes. We have a city that focuses on students and tourists but does not govern the phenomenon. We need to organize ourselves but instead nothing is done and everything is allowed. Here on weekends there are fireworks, it happened that they even ended up on balconies but as long as someone doesn’t get hurt nothing will change.”
