News

Forum: Private estate residents need protection from noisy neighbours too

I would like to know if the Community Relations Unit (CRU) will also cover private and landed properties, and if not, why not? (

I would like to know if the Community Relations Unit (CRU) will also cover private and landed properties, and if not, why not? ( Aug 12). In my estate, for instance, inconsiderate owners, occupants and their visitors zoom past our homes in their illegally modified vehicles with loud exhausts day and night. If they are not announcing their vehicular prowess to the entire estate, they are leaving their cars idling. Their visitors will also park their vehicles illegally in the estate, causing traffic congestion and obstruction, and inconveniencing the residents. Some also smoke and toss their cigarette butts outside their homes and ours. We have lodged numerous reports to the relevant authorities and raised our concerns to the residents’ and neighbourhood committees, but no firm action has been taken. Our (repeated) pleas for stepped-up surveillance and security measures by the relevant authorities have also fallen on deaf ears. If the noise problem is bad for HDB residents, the impact – both mentally and physically – is worse for residents living in private estates as our homes are located on the ground, right next to the roads. The elderly and other vulnerable groups in our midst, such as those with pre-existing medical conditions like heart and respiratory ailments, are also badly affected. Perhaps there should be a separate and more stringent set of regulations to govern and control the noise pollution and public nuisance caused by such errant offenders in landed property estates. In cases where the property is rented, who can residents turn to when feedback to the residents’ and neighbourhood committees and landlords creates even greater tension, sometimes even resulting in tenants striking back with more aggravated acts affecting the peace of the residents and their estate. Besides activities causing noise and air pollution, other acts include anti-social, disorderly conduct and nuisance behaviours such as throwing soiled diapers in other residents’ trash bins and knocking down residents’ flower pots and bins when parking their vehicles outside our homes.