Consideration for others needs to be backed up in law

The neighbour who blasts out loud music in his garden, totally oblivious to the fact that other people may not wish to hear it. The dog owners who are either unable or unwilling to stop their hounds from barking, yapping and howling. The cat owners who allow their animals to venture onto other people’s properties without their permission to use them as a toilet and kill the wildlife, particularly young birds that have just flown the nest. The people living in built-up areas who light bonfires of garden waste in the summer when their neighbours have their washing hanging out to dry and their windows open to try and keep their houses cool, only to be smoked out like kippers.

The selfishness and negligence of people like those mentioned above are encouraged by environmental laws that are decades out of date, plus the fact that our Environment Department is a toothless tiger. The people of Guernsey are reliant on common sense and consideration for others to prevent these things, but clearly they alone are not enough. The majority of us have every regard for the rights of their neighbours to enjoy their properties, whether rented or otherwise. But, as always, there is a minority waiting to spoil things – the people who say we should all give and take, but who themselves always seem to take and never give.

In other cases such as traffic noise, the problems are caused not so much by wilful negligence as by out of date regulations.

The good news is that many, if not all, of the common annoyances can be dealt with by making a series of amendments to existing laws. Noisy, low cc motorbikes and scooters can be banned in the not-too-distant future in favour of electric models. Our relatively new animal welfare legislation can be clarified, so that cat owners are forced by law to take as much care for their pets as for other kinds of animal, and not allow them to wander in dangerous areas or onto property belonging to others where they are not wanted.

So, to the quiet majority of Guernsey householders, a big thank you for the efforts you make not to annoy your neighbours. And to the minority out there who think they should live as they want even at the expense of others, please learn to enjoy your property in such a way that it does not prevent other people from enjoying their own.

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