Vegan steps to court due to stink BBQ from neighbors
A woman has taken her neighbors in the Australian city of Perth to court after a conflict that got out of hand over the stink of the barbecue in their backyard. The woman, who is a vegan herself, complains of a constant smell of smoke and the smell of burnt meat and fish in her backyard, which she says she can no longer endure.
Cilla Carden from Perth is so horrified by the smoke and stench that she has taken her neighbors to the court about the smell of meat and smoke that comes from their barbecue. The woman claims that she can no longer enjoy her garden as the neighbors have “deliberately” positioned their barbecue in such a way that all kinds of unwanted smells blow into her yard.
“They have set up the barbecue in such a way that I can only smell fish and meat. I can’t go outside,” says the woman, who has been fighting with her neighbors, the Vu family, since the end of last year.
Carden has twice made a case in court: in February at a regional tribunal and in July also at the Supreme Court, due to a lack of evidence. Carden’s lawyer acknowledges that it was an “extreme choice” to go to the Supreme Court, but the woman did not let that stop her.
The woman says in local media that she knows for sure that her neighbors blow the scents “deliberately” into her garden. Carden is also bothered by cigarette smoke that jolts up from the garden and the sound of children playing basketball in the back yard. “It’s terribly agonizing and so restless, I can’t sleep because of it,” she says.
“Unreasonable demands”
In the meantime, the neighbor has already done a lot to disprove the situation. For example, he moved the barbecue and prohibited his children from playing basketball in the back of the garden. Carden’s anger now also focuses on the neighbor on the other side next to the VUs. He only wanted to respond anonymously in the local media. “Mrs. Carden’s demands are unreasonable and are at the expense of the other residents to enjoy their property acceptably,” the second targeted neighbor says.
Yet, the dispute is not over: despite her double defeat in court, Carden swears to go to court again, against the advice of her lawyer. “With neighbors’ quarrels, you should always try to talk the conflict out together,” he says in the local media. “If you don’t do that, you are sure that misery will come.”
The story is fiercely responded to on social media. Several people think Carden himself should move to a deserted area. “With all her sensitivities, she is clearly not resistant to ‘suburbia’,” it sounds several times. Others jump into the breach for the woman. “That barbecue air goes a bit too far, but everyone must be able to sit in peace in his back garden,” it sounds.
