Swimming pool noise

From my reading the pool isn’t in an apartment block, but next door?

There is nothing wrong with children enjoying themselves, but consistent screaming is very annoying.  Maybe tell the children not to scream?  Some noise is inevitable, you can’t expect total silence.

Mezzo

In my experience very few people are so intolerant that they don’t think there should be any noise at all – in fact I have never met such a person. I also dont think its all about age – this is a common prejudice and it suggests that anyone who is not living with children is inherently intolerant or becomes so.

If the complaint is about loud shouting and screaming then, in my view, it is self evident that this type of behaviour will cause an interference with the rights of others. It is because is causing a repeated disturbance that it is being brought to your attention and admire your effort to find a way through.

Don’t forget that many people say nothing and suffer, are unhappy, will have failed to get any action, don’t want to be regarded as whingers or face the irrational responses. If it happens very occasionally it is just unfortunate ce la vie, but this sounds like a pattern and level of disturbance that will drive people indoors and impact on their ability to just live in their homes in the normal way.

Noise and disturbance that is repeated causes a great deal of stress and distress is harmful to peoples’ health,  it is not just a simple issue of someone being ‘intolerant’. This is why we have well established noise pollution laws, and Council’s have set standards that they apply to commercial facilities that impact on neighbourhood and residential living etc.

In the built in environment there are usually problems of amplification, and unless there are sound barriers this already loud noise will be travelling up and outward and being projected into peoples homes. It will be more than one or two homes affected. I lived next door to a regular family with a pool, that was used daily but at ground level this was not a problem – it was at sufficient distance and the fence created a sound barrier. This does not exist in strata environments and some are worse than others. In a recent beach house with little between us and the sea there was no sound of the ocean at all at the ground level and on the level one balcony it absolutely roared (wonderful).

Effective parental supervision includes ameliorating loud shouting and screaming because, to be frank, any child over six understands that there are some limits and it is self evident that this will interfere with other people. Excited play is great, but if it is unrestrained cacophony of noise repeated on frequent basis – well you get the picture.

It doesn’t really matter what the ‘number’ is on the sound meter – the Council standard is generally 5 bd above the baseline as the limit. But of course your sound meter cannot measure the complexity of repeated loud shouting and screaming, the nature of the sound, the pitch and penetration etc etc and as this is an area that will attract people it will not be a single instance of one 11 year old girl and the occasional scream. 

Like I said – it is self evident. You should not underestimate the impacts and residents and their committees on estate with pool should not be afraid to assert standards, and you cannot put a simple number on that.

It is unfortunate that many (not all) parents do seem to think an area like a common shared Pool is a place they can make as much rowdy noise as they please regardless. There is nothing unreasonable or oppressive about being required to moderate the behaviour of our children in public and it is vital to establish this a norm in high density residential communities – that is not anti-child it is pro community. 

Good luck.