Noise

Excessive noise can make life a misery, noisy neighbours, noise from industry or construction sites and barking dogs are just some of the problems that can be experienced.

What we have to remember is that no house or flat is totally sound proof, everybody must expect some noise from their neighbours and we are all affected by noise from our neighbours from time to time.

Neighbourhood Noise

Excessive noise from neighbours can be frustrating and can cause a lot of unnecessary stress and worry. In many cases, the person making the noise is unaware that they are causing a problem and therefore the problem can be sorted out quite quickly.

Traffic Noise

Traffic noise is excluded from Part III of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, which means that we have no direct responsibility in relation to noise from traffic.

Barking Dogs

Excessive noise from barking dogs can be frustrating and can cause a lot of unnecessary stress and worry. In many cases, the person who owns the dog(s) is unaware that they are causing a problem and therefore the problem can be sorted out quite quickly.

Fireworks

The Public Protection team can only deal with noise complaints from fireworks if the fireworks are being set off from a property on a regular basis. If the fireworks are being set off in the street then this is a Police matter.

Commercial Noise

Noise from commercial premises is often dealt with in the same way as that from domestic premises.

However, in some cases we may not need to prove a statutory nuisance where the premises hold a public entertainment licence. These licences are issued in order to ensure that the disturbance caused to the general public is kept to a minimum. Action can be taken against premises that operate outside of its licensing agreement.

Construction sites are a very common source of noise pollution. They are often in areas which were quiet beforehand and, therefore, the noise generated by their activities is very noticeable. Construction noise is an anticipated part of a development and therefore a restriction on working hours is often prescribed as part of the planning permission.

Bird Scarers

Bird scarers and bird deterrents are essential to protect many crops from damage by wild birds. However if used thoughtlessly they can seriously annoy and disturb the public.

To avoid causing a nuisance, you should seek to minimise the impact of auditory scarers on your neighbours and there are steps you can take to do this:

Place the scarers as far away from nearby homes as practical, align them to point away from neighbours and use baffles.
Avoid using auditory scarers within 200 meters of sensitive buildings before 7am, or before 6am elsewhere when sunrise is earlier. Use another method in the early morning and do not use after 10pm when sunset is later.