Neighbours

Most of us who live in an urban environment live very close to each other.  This brings not only benefits but also responsibilities; these responsibilities are most keenly tested in good weather during the summer months and, like now, a warm spring.

When it's nice, we open our windows to let fresh air in to our houses and also enjoy being outside on our patios or in our gardens.  These are times to remember those others nearby and be good neighbours.

It can be thoroughly demoralising to be assaulted with the noise of a radio or CD player that's either played loudly from indoors or put outside.  There's often nowhere to escape, no room in your own house where you can be free from the noise if you want to, and shutting the windows is a last resort when it will make your own environment more hot and uncomfortable.

Other factors, like barbecue fumes and smoke, or late-night loud chat and music from a party, can also make for a miserable time if you're nearby.  The not-wanting-to-make-a-fuss gene kicks in or, worse, the fear of creating bad feeling for the future.

So, if you can hear an ordinary conversation next door then the same applies in reverse.  Please bear this in mind and we'll all enjoy the sunnier times.