Noisy gardeners in a north London neighbourhood could be served with football-style yellow and red cards in a crackdown on petrol-driven tools such as hedge trimmers.
Residents and contractors in Hampstead Garden Suburb are being urged to ditch modern machinery and return to using “old-fashioned” manual tools.
Some homeowners say their lives have been increasingly blighted by the roar of motors from leaf blowers, hedge trimmers and lawnmowers. Now they are calling for repeat offenders to be put under pressure to reduce the noise.
The Hampstead Garden Suburb Residents’ Association has set up a “noise abatement committee” to combat the menace after a dramatic spike in complaints.
Association secretary Gary Shaw said: “Noise problems have grown in recent years and it has made it difficult for residents to relax or work. We can’t impose anything on people but we hope to nudge them into recognising noise can be very disturbing and point them the right way.”
He added: “One of the things we are thinking about doing is putting polite red and yellow cards through residents’ doors. We also hope we can encourage people or their gardeners to use old-fashioned, manual gardening tools. It’s all about trying to remind people — politely — of the impact that noise can have on their neighbours.”
Dogs left barking in back gardens for hours by irresponsible owners are also on the committee’s hit-list.
The clampdown comes 109 years after the Act that created Hampstead Garden Suburb. One of its founding principles was that “noise should be avoided, even to the prohibition of Church or Chapel or Institute bells”.
Mr Shaw said they would look at using “social pressure” to target serial culprits in an area known for its large gardens, and where mansions can cost up to £30 million.
The new committee will meet every three months.
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