Outdoor diners and drinkers in Geneva will soon need to move inside at midnight under new rules aimed at cutting nighttime noise in the city, reported the newspaper 20 Minutes.
The rule, to be introduced on 1 June 2022, will apply from Sunday until Thursday. On Fridays and Saturdays outdoor dining and drinking will be allowed until 2:00am. Inside rules will remain the same.
In Geneva there are around 1,500 establishments across the city offering outdoor street spaces.
In cities, noise pollution, which has been linked to poor health, is a significant problem. Disturbed sleep in particular can contribute to a number of health issues. In a study in Geneva in 2015, 43% of residents reported issues with noise pollution.
Road noise is another challenge in cities. Last week, Switzerland’s federal government announced further substantial investment to cut traffic noise.
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Latif Al-Bayati says
Excluding Friday and Saturday from the rules will not help much since most high disturbing noises and shouting of drunk persons happen on these two days! If you really want to control such noise, the law and rules should be more strict with concerned authorities/ police supervision.
There is no follow up or sufficient control, thus many violate the rules continuously without accountability by the concerned authorities. Our quarter of Les Acacias is quite noisy throughout the week after midnight and even after 2 a.m.!
Regrettably, many violate the rules with no respect to the neighbors because they know they can get away with it under the pretext of personal freedom and having the right to enjoy themselves! without any respect to other people rights to have a peaceful night and proper sleep.
We hope the concerned authorities would give this noise issue more attention and effective action.
Thank you