Vegan Woman In Legal Battle With Neighbors Over Barbecue Smell
Sean Cate
Sean Cate
September 10, 2019 ·  5 min read

Vegan Woman Filed Lawsuit Against Her Neighbors over Constant Smell of Barbecue

Cilla Carden, an Australian masseuse who also lives a vegan lifestyle, has been standing up to her neighbors who she believes are bent on torturing her with their activities. She lives in the Perth suburb of Girrawheen and complains that her neighbors’ constant backyard barbecue is a disturbance to her, so much that she can’t even spend time in her backyard anymore [1]

Carden is so upset with her neighbors that she took the legal battle all the way up to the State Administrative Tribunal at the Supreme Court of Western Australia in 2018, presenting a stunning 400-page report against her neighbors. 

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,” the massage therapist said to Australia’s 9News [2]

Carden insists the neighbors are doing it just to spite her and instigate malice, and she’s giving them back the hell they are allegedly putting her though. 

This legal battle, according to the Guardian has been dragging on since 2017 [3].

Grill in the backyard, smokes on the patio

The Vu family, according to Carden do not only barbecue on their backyard to bother her, but they also smoke on the patio with their children noisily playing basketball. She also complained that the neighbors on the other side of her house are guilty of these offenses as well. No one wants her to maintain her quality of life and be happy, she claims.

It’s been devastating, it’s been turmoil, it’s been unrest, I haven’t been able to sleep,” Carden said.

Carden’s case was rejected a second time at the Supreme Court due to lack of any evidence that the neighbors were barbecuing to spite her. 

“What they’re doing is living in their backyard and their home as a family,” the State Administrative Tribunal stated, as The West Australian reports [4].

The volume of material that she has produced … suggests that these matters have to an extent become somewhat overwhelming,” said Chief Justice Peter Quinlan, who dismissed her case on July 29. He explains that with the number of documents she filed against her neighbors, “in excess of anything that might be thought to be proportionate to the issues.”

Carden was very upset with the judges’ decision and has vowed to continue fighting for her rights.

It’s deliberate, that’s what I told the courts. It’s deliberate,” she said. “I’m a good person. I just want peace and quiet.”

“This issue has been blown out of proportion,” she said to Daily Mail Australia [5]. “And this is not about a vegan versus meat issue. I respect the right of people to eat meat! I have no problem with barbecues. The real issue is one between neighbors.”

The other side of the story from Carden’s exhausted neighbors

The neighbors have gone out of their way to make Carden happy, but she’s still not satisfied with their efforts. Toan Vu invited 9News into his home and showed them the changes he made to his backyard. The barbecue grill was moved to the other end of the yard and the children no longer play basketball against the shared wall. 

The Vu’s, along with the other neighbors have done everything from reducing patio lights and replacing their garden plants to silencing their pets, all of which were part of Carden’s requests. 

Ms. Carden’s demands were proven to be not reasonable and indeed were to the detriment of the other owners’ ability to enjoy their lots in a reasonable and acceptable manner,” one of the neighbors, who chose to stay anonymous, said to 9News.

Meat-loving Australians fire back at Carden with a “Meat and Greet.”

In an event named Community BBQ for Cilla Carden, 2000 Australians have decided to come together to host a cookout outside of Carden’s Rochford Way home. The event is slated for the 19th of October and is clearly a heavy act of mockery against Carden.

Cilla Carden has a problem with her neighbors cooking meat on their BBQ because she’s a vegan. Recently taking them to the Supreme Court,” Bailey Mason, event coordinator wrote on Facebook. “Don’t let Cilla destroy a good old Aussie tradition, join us for a community BBQ, and help Cilla Carden GET SOME PORK ON HER FORK.”

Wasting no time, Carden has taken legal actions against the event and its organizers. Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, her lawyer, John Hammond of Hammond Legal says that Carden has no objection to anyone enjoying a barbecue. According to him, she accepts barbecues as an Australian way of life, but people planning a mocking cookout on her property is outrightly trespassing.

Any person who seeks to attend Ms. Carden’s property on Saturday, October 19, 2019, or at any other time in relation to this event or matter will be referred to the WA police on the grounds of trespass,” Mr. Hammond wrote on his Facebook page. “Security cameras will be installed to obtain the vision of any person attending the property and the vision will be provided to the police.”

Neighbors should live in love and peace. We do hope Carden, the Vu’s and the others find a way to work around the situation so that everyone can be happy and enjoy their home as they wish.

  1. https://time.com/5667413/vegan-sues-barbecue/ll
  2. Elizabeth Creasy. Perth vegan demands neighbor stop cooking barbecues. 9News. https://www.9news.com.au/national/perth-vegan-demands-neighbour-stop-cooking-barbecues-smoking-and-bouncing-balls/5a108bdb-142b-486a-a30d-28edd354d602. Retrieved 09-09-19
  3. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/sep/03/vegan-takes-neighbours-to-court-in-western-australia-over-smell-from-barbecues
  4. Caitlyn Rantoul. Vegan loses strata dispute appeal over smell of meat from neighbour’s barbecue. The West Australian. https://thewest.com.au/news/court-justice/vegan-loses-strata-dispute-appeal-over-smell-of-meat-from-neighbours-barbecue-ng-b881310939z. Retrieved 09-09-19
  5. Thomas Duff & Tom Place. Meat and greet! Militant vegan who took her neighbours to court over their smelly cooking brings in lawyers after 2,000 people vow to attend a community barbecue at HER HOUSE. Mail Online. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7425645/Cilla-Carden-brings-lawyers-2-000-people-vow-barbecue-house.html. Retrieved 09-09-19