Noisy neighbors can be a real test of one’s patience, but for Cilla Carden, a massage therapist from Perth, Australia, it became a full-blown legal battle. This vegan resident took her neighbors to court, all the way up to the Supreme Court, in a quest for peaceful enjoyment of her own backyard.
Carden’s complaints centered around two main issues with her neighbors: the smell of their barbecue and the constant sounds of children playing basketball. As a vegan, she found the aroma of grilled meat to be particularly bothersome, claiming it prevented her from enjoying her own outdoor space.
“It’s been devastating, it’s been turmoil, it’s been unrest, I haven’t been able to sleep,” Carden told 9News in 2019, expressing her frustration with the persistent smell of her neighbors’ barbecue. “They’ve put it there so I smell fish, all I can smell is fish. I can’t enjoy my backyard, I can’t go out there.”
In addition to the barbecue, Carden also took issue with the noise generated by her neighbors’ children playing basketball. She argued that the constant dribbling and bouncing of the ball interfered with her ability to relax in her own backyard.
Carden’s attempts to resolve the issues with her neighbors proved futile, leading her to take the drastic step of taking them to court. She made it clear that this was a deliberate action on her part, stating, “It’s deliberate, that’s what I told the courts, it’s deliberate.”
Carden’s claims were initially rejected by the courts, but she was undeterred. She applied to appeal the decision, taking her case all the way to the Supreme Court of Western Australia.
Unfortunately for Carden, the Supreme Court also rejected her appeal, leaving her with no legal recourse against her noisy neighbors.
In a surprising twist, news of Carden’s court battle sparked a community-wide reaction. A Facebook event was created, inviting people to a community barbecue specifically to let Carden know that she couldn’t “destroy a good old Aussie tradition.”
The event quickly gained traction, with over 24,000 people responding to the invitation. Carden’s lawyer threatened legal action, and the police issued a warning, ultimately leading to the cancellation of the event.
Despite the widespread belief that Carden was against others eating meat, her lawyer insisted that she had “no objection to people eating meat and no objection to people having barbecues.” The issue, it seemed, was purely about the impact on her own ability to enjoy her backyard.
Cilla Carden’s legal battle against her noisy neighbors captivated the attention of the Australian public, sparking debates about the limits of personal freedoms and the challenges of living in close proximity to others. While her quest for a peaceful backyard was ultimately unsuccessful, her story serves as a reminder that even the most seemingly trivial disputes can escalate into high-stakes legal battles.
