Star comment: Peace and quiet needs protection
An Englishman's house is his castle and surely the one thing he is entitled to is a bit of peace and quiet?
Bank Holidays like today are made for a relaxing day in the garden with beverage in hand and enjoying the tranquillity of our own little Eden.
But then comes the noise.
It is a menace in our neighbourhoods that is seldom tackled.
This is a reluctance by local authorities and the police to wade into neighbourly disputes over music or to crackdown on nuisance drivers and anti-social behaviour.
Why?
Surely we should expect to live our lives in peace without fear of being driven to madness by revving motorbikes, screaming or Tina Turner on repeat?
Surprisingly areas like Dudley, Lichfield, Cannock Chase and South Staffordshire are noisier than Wolverhampton according to official data.
What is clear is that the public need greater protection from nuisance noise.
Councils already have powers to tackle it but rarely seem to take any meaningful action.
Perhaps what we need is tougher sanctions or new laws that make it clearer that noise will not be tolerated?
Noise can drive people to despair.
No-one has the right to cause mayhem or unduly disrupt others and make their lives a misery.
So why do we put up with it every day of the week and all year round?
It may seem trivial to be calling for a tougher stance to be taken but at the end of the day we are talking about people's welfare.
Our homes is our sanctuary.
It is the place where we live and raise our families.
It is simply unacceptable that we should expect to tolerate what is really a form of abuse.
We should not be intimidated in our own bricks and mortar.
It is time that councils took residents' concerns a little more seriously and act swiftly to nip these incident in the bud.
Failure to act only lets the problem escalate.
It may be a sad indictment of our times but perhaps some people really do need to be told how to conduct themselves.
Furthermore, we can all do our bit by being a little more considerate of others and demonstrate a little bit more thought how we behave.
It may be a simple outlook to life but there is little more pleasing than enjoying a bit of peace and quiet.
Please, let's keep it that way.
