3 hours ago
6
It’s common these days for people to play music in their gardens on smart speakers or smartphones. But is it fair on the neighbours? Should gardens be quiet spaces without these kinds of sounds? Graham French, Sutton Coldfield
Send new questions to [email protected].
This week’s question: Are school and college reunions good for us? Or do they just confront us with uncomfortable past versions of ourselves and others, keeping us trapped in old, unhealthy patterns? Post your comments here
Readers reply
Only do it twice per year. Any more and there will be retribution! KrisFernie
Playing music in the garden would be fine if people did it on cold, wet evenings when I’m sitting inside. But my neighbours insist on playing music in their garden on warm, sunny evenings when I want to enjoy being outside to enjoy the peace and quiet of my garden. Chris Shaw
I would rather hear music than the neighbours having another nasty argument. GrandMoo2018
Our neighbours have a sound system in the shed that is easily loud enough to be a professional PA, which is running at ear-splitting volume several times a week and especially on warm days when you might want to spend some time in the garden. We regularly have to shut doors and windows, never mind the heat. It’s impossible to talk outside. Yes, we’ve spoken to them. I think we are due a wider conversation about consideration for others, beyond piecemeal stuff like whether a phone speaker is too loud – we allow these debates to get into the weeds (how do we decide?), where the real issue is selfishness as a whole, right up to the political level. Choco
A person’s back yard should be a haven. Some people have hypersensitivity to sound and they should be able to relax in their own back yard in peace. M Johnson
It’s not for others to decide how quiet or otherwise others have their gardens unless it’s reaching the levels for which you could get the council involved. The outside isn’t silent! natfantastic
One of our neighbours uses a leaf-blower whatever the season and it wavers around a B-flat. Another is a middle-aged biker with a mate, who, when revving on a Sunday morning, can create duets ranging from a deep low G to a high F#. At the bottom of the garden, we have children who can reach Philip Glass-level operatic heights with a touch of Stockhausen inserted. All in all, I’d kill for some music on speakers! Alec1961
I want to extend this to hiking trails. What is it with playing music out loud while you are hiking? Don’t you want to hear the sounds of nature? Isn’t that part of the point? DrMomPA
If you have a job lot of headphones of dubious provenance, you can sell them door-to-door to noisy residents in your locality at competitive prices. Good fences make good neighbours. Eddie Chorepost
This is clearly a question of how loud and how long. That is why we have laws about times of day and decibel levels. If you want silence, move to the country or join a monastery. If you live in a city, there will always be a certain amount of noise. As another writer commented, just don’t be a jerk about it. ChoretownLiberal
I think the one thing that is missing mostly is consideration. We all share spaces, unless you have the advantage of significant clear space around your property. If you are the only one out and there is no sound leakage into people’s homes, then have at it. Similarly, if you need to trim, mow or strim vegetation, pick your times so you aren’t waking everyone up or providing hours of machine noise while everyone else wants to enjoy their garden. There will always be the odd flash point with noise, but I find that plugging into several hundred watts of amp and practising scales and speed drills quickly gets the point across. TyPing
We have builders at the moment and they play their music. Our neighbours have been very understanding and have not complained. I’ve taken the attitude that they are only here for a few months and the music is during the day when they are making noise building anyway. I do that think apart from the odd party, inflicting one’s life choices such as music and dogs barking on other people is wrong. The law is pretty clear on this, too. One is entitled to live in one’s house undisturbed by neighbours’ noise. SawdustKid
In this age when Bluetooth headphones are ubiquitous, you should never have to endure other people’s music. I have particularly strong opinions on this as my better half had a nasty accident while sleep-deprived by a neighbour’s music. DrRieux
It’s unfathomable to me that anyone had a childhood so secure that they can just decide to play their media out loud, knowing full well (yet not being daunted) that strangers and neighbours will judge them negatively for it. That level of self-worth is aspirational. Nadine Andrews, Southport
Of course it is insensitive. Another instance of the “it’s my right to do as I wish” philosophy which holds individual “freedom” as somehow sacrosanct over and above consideration of others. Noise pollution is a significant problem; at best an unthinking intrusion and invasion of privacy. A further example of the “no such thing as society” creed continuing to bear its de-civilising fruit. Rob Eyres
Unless you are fortunate or wealthy enough to own a back garden large enough to get lost in, the answer must surely be no. With the possible – and occasional – exception of a child’s birthday party. But what do you do about a neighbour who smokes cannabis in their back garden? Ian Brewerton
Why not smash through the hedge and set up your deck chairs on next door’s lawn while you are at it? Headphones were invented so that we could listen to music and not disturb other people. Gillian Parker
Depends whether it’s the neighbourhood party, or some other get-together with intrusive music. We used to have a festival evening garden party in the grounds of the old manor house. They consulted and warned neighbours, and ensured the sound level was reduced as the late hours approached. All OK. Neighbours playing loud music that is drowning out mine, such that I have to resort to headphones, is not. Anon
We bought a house because the garden seemed so lovely. We moved in to find the most disrespectful and hostile neighbours imaginable. They are at the end of the terrace, with no neighbours behind, so it’s just us directly next door (although with the noise they make it must surely be suffered a long way up the terrace). Their music is so loud in the garden it sounds like they are having a party. We’ve asked them to turn it down a couple of times and they clearly couldn’t care less. No remorse for disrupting us, no apology, barely turning it down. Dogs barking loudly in the garden. They just sit among it. Would be nice if they just let us know when they are having bonfires out there so we know to bring our washing in. We barely use the garden we bought the house for. When there’s no noise we hear the birds. What a luxury in a city. Emma Stewart
Fundamentally, this is an issue of civil behaviour. I happen to be a big fan of 20th-century opera, and I like it loud to really reach my amygdala, but I wouldn’t play Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Nixon in China or Peter Grimes loudly in my garden because I am fully aware that my tastes are minority tastes and my neighbours are very unlikely to appreciate it. It’s just rude to inflict your tastes on somebody else who has no control over it.
Do as you would be done by. If you don’t wish to hear your neighbour playing the final act of Götterdämmerung at full volume in his garden, then you shouldn’t be playing Ibiza dance music. This should be simple. Peter Neville
