Summertime, and for some the | noise is disturbing someone. | seem to treasure their right to peace | ||
livin ' is far from easy. | Environmental psychoiogist Dr | and quiet with strict by-laws against | ||
Neighbours open their windows | Jonathan Sime says : 'Many people | noisy lawnmowers and do-it-yourself | ||
and share their musical tastes | see their home as a private place and | on a Sunday. | ||
with the world or hold noisy outdoor | want to [id:73408]. If noise travels over | When you feel that you have a real | ||
parties, while thumping drilIs and | their boundaries it causes annoyance | complaint, the law is [id:73410]. Part | ||
roaring lorries heraid the arrival of | which can lead to stress. Noise/sound | of the problem is pinning down a | ||
summer roadworks. It's enough to | from neighbours is probably the most | noise complaint, because there is no | ||
drive normally quiet, law-abiding | stressful because you can identify the | fixed level of noise which makes it a | ||
citizens mad. One South London | source, and get annoyed with | legally defined nuisance. Most people | ||
market trader shot a fellow stallholder | call the police when they have a | |||
after seven months of | problem with domestic noise , but the | |||
reIentiess disco music. | police cannot do anything about it. | |||
But what is it about noise th at | Surprisingly few people contact | |||
triggers such extreme reactions? | their local environmental health | |||
Have we, as a nation, simply become | officer, who [id:73411] to give an | |||
[id:73405] each other, including other | official warning to your neighbor | |||
people's noise? According to a recent | saying how the noise must be | |||
survey, one in three people said their | reduced. Nearly all complaints are | |||
home life was being spoilt by noise | dealt with informally but, if not, the | |||
from traffic, neighbours, aircraft and | local authority can take the offender | |||
tra ins. Over 84,000 people made a | to court where they can be fined up | |||
formal complaint about noise between | to 5,000. Most cases that get to court | |||
1991-92, but in weil over half | result in a conviction. (In one recent | |||
of these the complaint was not upheld. | case a lady in Cleveland was fined | |||
'Noises are often not as loud as | 500 for playing Dolly Parton records | |||
the householder thinks,' says John | for up to 11 hours a day) | |||
Jackson, Environmental Health | But for most of us, complaining | |||
Officer at Milton Keynes. Also, many | isn't something we're very good at. It | |||
complaints are to do with differences | isn't very British to make a fuss. | |||
in [id:73406] rather than volume. | 'There's a great prejudice against | |||
This is at the centre of the issue of | someone in particular - unlike with | people who complain that they are | ||
noise pollution. What irritates one | traffic.' | neurotics or killjoys,' says David | ||
pers on may be tolerabie to another. | It does seem as if we British may | Simons, Chairman of the Right to | ||
Officially, over half of us are living in | be rather more [id:73409] noise than | Peace and Quiet Campaign. Seventy | ||
homes th at expose us to daytime | our European neighbors. Many | per cent of people who are troubled | ||
noise levels in excess of World Health | countries don 't have environmental | by neighbors' noise [id:73412]. 'Nobody | ||
Organisation recommendations | health officers to follow up | would like to be told what to do | ||
- 55dB - which is quieter than the | complaints or even laws covering | in their own home . | ||
sound of a phone rin ging two metres | environmental health standards. The | All in all , we have forgotten how | ||
away. Clearly most of us find this | further south in Europe you go the | to be good neighbors. We live in a | ||
[id:73407], or local authorities would | laxer the controls are (perhaps | very [id:73413] society.' | ||
be overwhelmed with complaints. | because more time is spent | |||
There must be other reasons why | outdoors). However, the Germans |