Quiet neighbours now making noise.

[OpalBird]

My neighbours talked to us about the noise coming from our property. OK, my son has a hobby that does make an annoying noise. Since then we have made sure he's doing it less but we obviously aren't going to stop him completely. They haven't said anything since and I think we've been considerate in reducing the number of hours our son does his thing.

It seems like they've now decided that they are allowed to make more noise. We've been neighbours for years and they've always been quiet. Now we get occasional music or radio in their backyard. When I asked them about it they said they have always worn headphones to be considerate but they don't really like listening that way, so they thought it was fair they got to have their hobbies the way they enjoy them best as well.

Would I be unreasonable to complain to them again? There is a difference between children playing and music when they have the option of headphones.

You appreciated that they were quiet neighbours, but didn't want to be quiet neighbours in return.

They are allowed to enjoy their home too. They are now just less restrictive of the noise they make in reasonable waking hours.

30-45 minutes a day is more reasonable. At least then they know it's over, not wondering when the next bout of unbearably irritating noise will begin again!

Yeah, this.

So your son can play basket ball for 30misn 3/4 times a day, so 1.5-2 hours.... but they can't have some music for two hours.

You're being an arse.

It was just a question.

if he has siblings perhaps he could play/interact with them at something other than basketball

Maybe OP son needs occupying with other young people, if not siblings then friends or if he has no friends then maybe a club.

You don’t need to take offence at every comment that you have made into something else in your head.

So...they play music for 2 hours and your son plays basketball for half an hour at a time "3 or 4 times a day" ie the same amount of time? I'd rather listen to music than a ball being thudded repeatedly. You both have right to enjoyment of your home and garden nothing here is excessive you could have alot worse neighbours!

I think it probably ‘worked for them’ in the sense that they limited how they used their garden, so as not in inconvenience you and hoped/assumed you would do the same. In this case, they would have enjoyed their garden more with a bit of music, but didn’t so as not to disturb you.

But it wasn’t reciprocal. They ‘sacrifice’ their music (for your benefit), and still lose their peace when your son plays basketball. On the other hand your son gets to make his noise as and when, and you get quiet from their garden. They ‘lost’ everything, while you got exactly what you wanted, without giving anything up.

1-2h a day is not necessarily too much as long as it is never around mealtime or when the neighbours are relaxing outside. OP, when does your son play? And does he check if the neighbours are in their garden before starting?

I would also say that music is less of a nuisance than basket-ball noise, so if he plays for say 1h in total, I wouldn’t dream of complaining about music even if it lasted 2-3h if you see what I mean?

Do you have grass? At the very least, I'd look into putting a hoop on a stand as far away as possible from the neighbours. Also some kind of sound deadening surface to surround it. This is the least you can do. Also tolerate normal music from your neighbours.

Obviously you’re unreasonable 😂

I echo this. Well done, OP, for acknowledging the weight of opinion, not always an easy thing to do. Some things to consider:

The uncertainty of when noise will start and stop raises anxiety; you are experiencing in relation to their music; perhaps set particular times for more limited practice and make the neighbours aware.

Be genuinely open to other mitigations eg relocating your hoop and lobbying council/your local councillor to install a hoop in the park; this would signal to your neighbours you are looking at the issue from their perspective.

😂😂😂😂😂

Get a grip op.

Of course your neighbours are allowed to listen to music in their garden.

So if he plays basketball for half an hour four times a day, that is also two hours. So you can’t really complain about your neighbours listening to music for two hours.
having the radio on at a reasonable volume is a completely normal part of life, you sound really petty.

I'm with your neighbours. My ndn kids kick a football in the garden, they keep kicking it and it hits the fence or comes into my garden. They now started kicking the bloody ball against the house.

It could be argued it's inconsiderate and selfish to not allow a child their hobby.

Oh you're one of those parents who thinks the world should revolve around your offspring.

Good on your neighbours for playing their music.

This. ^^

It’s like water torture.

I had a neighbour’s kid, years ago, who used a tennis racket and ball for hours against their garage wall. The thwack and thump of that wretched ball against the wall was absolute torture. Drove us mad.

Your kid needs to take his ball, more appropriately and considerately to the park.

What exactly are you going to say to the neighbours? It is absolutely not reasonable to ask them to use headphones in their own garden!

He plays on and off through the day. Yesterday it was three times. When he's at school often once before school and up to three times after. Times are random. I obviously need to think about this some more.

Um, four half-hour sessions is two hours. And a basketball bouncing is much more annoying than music.

My next door neighbours have an L shaped house so walls on all sides, a stone patio, astroturf for excellent ball bouncing opportunities and terrible sound dampening, a basketball hoop, loud voices AND a trampoline for fun bouncing in between.

Do I win ?

We have never complained about it but it is so very intrusive. I don't think you realise how noisy it is, OP.

The net is right next to their house but there is nowhere else to put it.

Oh baloney! You buy a freestanding hoop and put it as far away from your neighbours house as possble.

My thoughts exactly. Son on a pedestal and can do no wrong, poor neighbours

You've pissed them off however your lucky they seem very reasonable people so maybe have a conversation with them about if their is certain times a day that would be better for your son to play basketball depending on their work hours to see if there's a compromise somewhere. The basket ball would annoy me more then music the constant noise of a ball bouncing is one of the most irritating noises there is

A neighbours kid plays basketball and it's quite noticible. It doesn't annoy me as it's not frequent enough and I think it's good for kids to be outside. I also use a jet washer and power tools from time to time so I think it evens out.

I find other neighbours playing music much more annoying. I think it's obnoxious to play music in your garden unless it's really quiet.

The absolute worse (as my user name suggests) is people that let their dogs bark and bark. I'm not talking about an occasional short barking session, I'm talking about dogs that are left to bark for ages and ages. It's a really shitty selfish thing to do.

But for some reason you can't deal with a bit of radio...