E-Petition

The Petition of residents of the State of Queensland draws to the attention of the House that over the last 20 or so years the proliferation of powered garden tools has become excessive. Previously quiet suburbs, such as e.g. Wellington Point, have lost a lot of charm to the constant barrage of lawnmowers, grass cutters, edgers, leaf blowers and vacs, chain saws, and so forth. Adding to that is the trend to pursuing hobbies from home, often involving noisy electric tools such as circular saws, grinders, sanders etc. It's become difficult to find any hour of the day during daylight hours where one can have an afternoon nap or just a quiet period of time for reflection. As blocks get smaller, it appears that residents get more fastidious about taking (often excessive) care of the the small amount of property and lawn they own. This results in unnecessary air pollution, noise and loss of quiet amenity. 

Your petitioners, therefore, request the House to establish periods of no-noise in line with many European countries. In particular:

• prohibit the use of motor powered garden tools before 8am, after 6pm and between the hours of 1-3pm; 
• prohibit the use of electric or petrol powered hobby tools between the same hours as above; and 
• encourage neighbours to do the required noise inducing lawn care and garden care in unison rather than (as it is happening now) in a staggered fashion where noise is happening at all times coming from different neighbours.