Mystery noise keeps Matraville, Little Bay, Chifley, Malabar residents awake

The suspected cause of a mystery “loud washing machine” sound responsible for many sleepless nights in Sydney’s southeast has been revealed, as has the whopping number of noise complaints.

The suspected cause of a mystery noise that sounds like “drilling in the brain” keeping residents in Sydney’s southeast awake at all hours of the night has been revealed.

The Southern Courier spoke to several residents in Matraville, Little Bay, Chifley and Malabar who complained about a “constant loud thudding noise” they had heard constantly for a week.

A NSW Environment Protection Authority spokesman said the organisation had been working with NSW Ports on noise monitoring in the area.

“(We) concluded that the largest source of low frequency noise in the area is ships berthed at Port Botany, with other low frequency noise sources making some contributions” he said.

The spokesman said they had been working with the Port Authority of NSW, Randwick and Bayside councils, local industry and the Department of Planning and Environment to investigate ways to minimise the noise and its impact on residents around Port Botany.

“NSW Ports has been working with stevedores and ship operators to understand the cause of the noise. The EPA expects this will lead to actions that reduce noise issues for residents”.

The spokesperson said NSW EPA had received 24 complaints this year about noise and vibration at Port Botany. That equals one complaint each week.

Emma Coleman (l) and Danielle Johnson are fed up with the disruptive noise. Pictures: supplied

Matraville’s Danielle Johnson is more familiar with the “constant loud thudding noise” than she would like to be.

She had been hearing the noise on and off since 2020 but was relieved when it stopped late last year. That is until the week before last, when it started up again.

“It was every day for about five days straight, all day all night,” Ms Johnson said.

“It’s the kind of noise that can send you insane constantly hearing it, and is super loud when it hits night time and everyday noise stops”.

The Southern Courier has seen six complaints Ms Johnson made to the NSW EPA since 2020, as it has been and on-and-off issue, but she never received a concrete answer as to the source of the noise or how it was being addressed.

In one response to her complaint dated March 26 last year, an EPA spokesman said the source of the noise had not been confirmed, but could potentially be anything from “ship engines, train engines, waste transfer stations, electricity transformers, sewage treatment plans and large industries such as Opak paper Mill and Botany Industrial Park”.

She said she gave up complaining because nothing was done about it – but was extremely frustrated the noise was back.

Locals suspect the noise could be coming from ships at Port Botany. Picture: Darren Leigh Roberts

Nearby resident Emma Coleman has also found the noise extremely disruptive. She lives closer to Malabar, which is slightly further than Ms Johnson from Port Botany, one suspected source of the noise.

“It sounds similar to my washing machine on a high spin cycle,” she said.

“Often I wake up thinking ‘gee, did I accidentally set the timer on the washing machine for the middle of the night?’”

Little Bay Locals have also complained about the thudding noise. Picture: Gaye Gerard

Ms Coleman said when she lived on Mawson Pde in Chifley a year ago, it was even louder.

“It would wake me up constantly. It sounded like it was next to my bedroom – I would put the pillow over my head to try drown it out.”

Her neighbour, Loca Chantelle Cavlovic, said the noise had been “waking (her) up like a drill in the brain”.

Several locals suspected the noise was from loud ships unloading cargo with their motors on at nearby Port Botany.