Noisy neighbor quad bike

Vectis

Playing your music loud until 11pm is not the answer. In fact you're probably causing a nuisance to other neighbours, not just that one family.

But, if you wanted to do something about the quad bike noise, talk to all the other neighbours and see if you can get together and do a joint approach to the Council. But, you may find them complaining about your late night music yourself.

GDB2222

It’s possible that this particular child has some difficulties, which might explain what sounds like fairly obsessive behaviour, riding round and round a fairly small garden for hours. If so, then the authorities may side with the child, and the op is just going to have to work round the problem. That might mean wearing headphones, or simply staying inside whenever the child is riding around in the garden. 

FlyMeSomewhere79

BarelySentientAI said:

FlyMeSomewhere79 said:

BarelySentientAI said:

It's a kid having fun in their own garden.

Parents need to be mindful of others, you can't just let a child be as noisy, disruptive and selfish as they want! That's why they grow up to be yobs!

You've got to be able to relax and be happy in your own home! It's tough mentally when noisy neighbours move in and alter your entire life! 

Children playing in gardens has been determined, several times, to not be a statutory nuisance.  Examples include shouting while playing with balls and while using trampolines - both of which were complained about as being "noisy and disruptive". Part of living with neighbours, or being part of society, is that sometimes some people might do something that you don't like.  If you require silence to "relax and be happy in your own home", then your home should not be in earshot of anyone else.

Many of these complaints - and this one seems (although we have only one side of the discussion of course) plausibly to be an exception - boil down to "I don't like what they are doing, so it's wrong and should stop".  No give & take, no compromise, just "I want it my way".  What is "noisy, disruptive and selfish" from one point of view is "children growing up and having fun" from another.  What makes the first view correct and the second view not?

Take the classic situation of a football going over the fence into the next door neighbour's garden and not being given back.  You ask one side, it's "all these yobs out of control, smashing balls around all the time, spoiling peace and quiet, messing up my life", and the other side it's "evil neighbour just trying to make my kids unhappy by complaining any time they aren't silent, yelling at them if they ask for their ball back and staring daggers out of the window."  Almost always, neither position is entirely true.

That's why ThisIsWeird's advice on the thread is so useful - they talk about specific evidence, recording, no "tit-for-tat" - "The proper way to sort this is for you to be unimpeachable in your behaviour. Do not do anything to grey the waters. You are Mr Reasonable, and your neighbour is a yob - all evidence should point to that contrast."

A quad revving around the garden all day is not a fair thing to expect anyone to put up with! The problem I see these days is people like you that think kids should be out on pedestals and allowed to do what they want.

As for the noise laws, I am well aware of how useless they are because my neighbour being able to slam internal doors from 4am onwards was classed as neighbourly give and take! 

Nobody is asking for silence, they are asking for reasonable behaviour! 

FlyMeSomewhere79

GDB2222 said:

It’s possible that this particular child has some difficulties, which might explain what sounds like fairly obsessive behaviour, riding round and round a fairly small garden for hours. If so, then the authorities may side with the child, and the op is just going to have to work round the problem. That might mean wearing headphones, or simply staying inside whenever the child is riding around in the garden. 

That isn't a fair way to expect the OP to live, it's summer and it's massively important to be able to enjoy being outdoors and having doors and windows open without noise and fumes coming in! And wearing headphones all day everyday at home? What if someone knocks at the door or the phone rings. There's no justifying what the neighbour is doing, he needs to take his child elsewhere to use the quad like a decent parent would do.

BarelySentientAI

FlyMeSomewhere79 said:

BarelySentientAI said:

FlyMeSomewhere79 said:

BarelySentientAI said:

It's a kid having fun in their own garden.

Parents need to be mindful of others, you can't just let a child be as noisy, disruptive and selfish as they want! That's why they grow up to be yobs!

You've got to be able to relax and be happy in your own home! It's tough mentally when noisy neighbours move in and alter your entire life! 

Children playing in gardens has been determined, several times, to not be a statutory nuisance.  Examples include shouting while playing with balls and while using trampolines - both of which were complained about as being "noisy and disruptive". Part of living with neighbours, or being part of society, is that sometimes some people might do something that you don't like.  If you require silence to "relax and be happy in your own home", then your home should not be in earshot of anyone else.

Many of these complaints - and this one seems (although we have only one side of the discussion of course) plausibly to be an exception - boil down to "I don't like what they are doing, so it's wrong and should stop".  No give & take, no compromise, just "I want it my way".  What is "noisy, disruptive and selfish" from one point of view is "children growing up and having fun" from another.  What makes the first view correct and the second view not?

Take the classic situation of a football going over the fence into the next door neighbour's garden and not being given back.  You ask one side, it's "all these yobs out of control, smashing balls around all the time, spoiling peace and quiet, messing up my life", and the other side it's "evil neighbour just trying to make my kids unhappy by complaining any time they aren't silent, yelling at them if they ask for their ball back and staring daggers out of the window."  Almost always, neither position is entirely true.

That's why ThisIsWeird's advice on the thread is so useful - they talk about specific evidence, recording, no "tit-for-tat" - "The proper way to sort this is for you to be unimpeachable in your behaviour. Do not do anything to grey the waters. You are Mr Reasonable, and your neighbour is a yob - all evidence should point to that contrast."

A quad revving around the garden all day is not a fair thing to expect anyone to put up with! The problem I see these days is people like you that think kids should be out on pedestals and allowed to do what they want.

As for the noise laws, I am well aware of how useless they are because my neighbour being able to slam internal doors from 4am onwards was classed as neighbourly give and take! 

Nobody is asking for silence, they are asking for reasonable behaviour! 

FlyMeSomewhere79 said:

GDB2222 said:

It’s possible that this particular child has some difficulties, which might explain what sounds like fairly obsessive behaviour, riding round and round a fairly small garden for hours. If so, then the authorities may side with the child, and the op is just going to have to work round the problem. That might mean wearing headphones, or simply staying inside whenever the child is riding around in the garden. 

That isn't a fair way to expect the OP to live, it's summer and it's massively important to be able to enjoy being outdoors and having doors and windows open without noise and fumes coming in! And wearing headphones all day everyday at home? What if someone knocks at the door or the phone rings. There's no justifying what the neighbour is doing, he needs to take his child elsewhere to use the quad like a decent parent would do.

Thanks for the evidence - tallies with the previous comments quite nicely.

OP - take the sensible advice that others have given.

GDB2222

FlyMeSomewhere79 said:

GDB2222 said:

It’s possible that this particular child has some difficulties, which might explain what sounds like fairly obsessive behaviour, riding round and round a fairly small garden for hours. If so, then the authorities may side with the child, and the op is just going to have to work round the problem. That might mean wearing headphones, or simply staying inside whenever the child is riding around in the garden. 

That isn't a fair way to expect the OP to live, it's summer and it's massively important to be able to enjoy being outdoors and having doors and windows open without noise and fumes coming in! And wearing headphones all day everyday at home? What if someone knocks at the door or the phone rings. There's no justifying what the neighbour is doing, he needs to take his child elsewhere to use the quad like a decent parent would do.

You are 100% right in one respect. It isn't fair on the OP. But, he has to be realistic about what he can achieve in the way of noise reduction. At the very best, the council will take a while to deal with this, and the OP needs to make the best of things until then.

If the council ends up prioritising the child's needs over the OP's, then he needs to make the best of things long term. 

"There's no justifying what the neighbour is doing, he needs to take his child elsewhere to use the quad like a decent parent would do."  That's not practical, if the kid is really riding the bike all day, is it?  

Alderbank

FlyMeSomewhere79 said:

GDB2222 said:

It’s possible that this particular child has some difficulties, which might explain what sounds like fairly obsessive behaviour, riding round and round a fairly small garden for hours. If so, then the authorities may side with the child, and the op is just going to have to work round the problem. That might mean wearing headphones, or simply staying inside whenever the child is riding around in the garden. 

...There's no justifying what the neighbour is doing, he needs to take his child elsewhere to use the quad like a decent parent would do.

It's illegal for the child to use the quad bike in a public park, a car park, a children's play area or anywhere to which the public have access. No decent parent would do that.

The only place the child can use it legally, and the only place the police recommend, is in their own garden.

fender62

Alderbank said:

FlyMeSomewhere79 said:

GDB2222 said:

It’s possible that this particular child has some difficulties, which might explain what sounds like fairly obsessive behaviour, riding round and round a fairly small garden for hours. If so, then the authorities may side with the child, and the op is just going to have to work round the problem. That might mean wearing headphones, or simply staying inside whenever the child is riding around in the garden. 

...There's no justifying what the neighbour is doing, he needs to take his child elsewhere to use the quad like a decent parent would do.

It's illegal for the child to use the quad bike in a public park, a car park, a children's play area or anywhere to which the public have access. No decent parent would do that.

The only place the child can use it legally, and the only place the police recommend, is in their own garden.

legal or not, its ridden without any safety gear.

Wonka_2

fender62 said:

Alderbank said:

FlyMeSomewhere79 said:

GDB2222 said:

It’s possible that this particular child has some difficulties, which might explain what sounds like fairly obsessive behaviour, riding round and round a fairly small garden for hours. If so, then the authorities may side with the child, and the op is just going to have to work round the problem. That might mean wearing headphones, or simply staying inside whenever the child is riding around in the garden. 

...There's no justifying what the neighbour is doing, he needs to take his child elsewhere to use the quad like a decent parent would do.

It's illegal for the child to use the quad bike in a public park, a car park, a children's play area or anywhere to which the public have access. No decent parent would do that.

The only place the child can use it legally, and the only place the police recommend, is in their own garden.

legal or not, its ridden without any safety gear.

Which, on private land, isn’t a legal requirement and is just muddying waters if you start complaining about it. 

Focus on what you can legally deal with otherwise you’ll become obsessed with trying to change things you can’t 

ThisIsWeird

GDB2222 said:

It’s possible that this particular child has some difficulties, which might explain what sounds like fairly obsessive behaviour, riding round and round a fairly small garden for hours. If so, then the authorities may side with the child, and the op is just going to have to work round the problem. That might mean wearing headphones, or simply staying inside whenever the child is riding around in the garden. 

There is nothing here to suggest that scenario.

Based on the info we have been given, it's more plausible that the guy a door down is a knuckle-grinding moron, owns a dog with a known & deserved reputation for literally ripping people's throats out, has a threatening and intimidating manner which includes bragging about being imprisoned for GBH, and is utterly inconsiderate even to their immediate, elderly, neighbours. The child's inconsiderate behaviour is almost certainly a direct result of this quality upbringing.