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The Council has a legal duty to advise and assist local people on noise nuisance issues. Noise from neighbours can be a serious problem, whether it is caused by loud music, barking dogs, DIY or intruder alarms. Business and industry can also be a source of disturbance. For example, late night deliveries, workshop activities and noise from ventilation systems are common causes of complaints. If the noise is bad enough to prevent relaxation or deny sleep, the long-term effect can be damaging to the health and well-being of the person at the receiving end.
These pages aim to provide you with information about our procedures and services to investigate and deal with noise complaints.
Definition
Noise is generally defined as unwanted sound. That means the noise could be:
- Too loud
- Too intrusive
- At the wrong time
- Having a particularly irritating characteristic such as a repetitive bass beat or a high pitch whine
A noise is a nuisance when it materially affects your comfort or quality of life. The noise can be continuous or intermittent but its assessment is based on the concepts of reasonableness and the 'average person'. Consequently, normal daytime noise would not generally be considered a nuisance even if it was disturbing someone trying to sleep during the day. In addition it is important to note that the nuisance will be normally assessed from within your home.
Principles
Stratford on Avon District Council considers that its residents can reasonably expect:
- To be protected from significant loss of amenity due to noise;
- To have qualified professional staff available to assess nuisance;
- Not to hear someone else's excessive noise in their home on a regular basis, eg music, barking dogs, alarms, DIY.
Our Commitment to you
Your enquiry will be dealt with by professional staff who have the correct skills and knowledge to assess noise complaints. They will adopt a fair and impartial approach.
A named officer will deal with your case whom you will be able to contact and seek advice from at every stage of the procedure.
Practice
Making a complaint: Complaints may be made in person, by telephone, by letter, email etc. or via a third party such as a Councillor. Trained staff will take initial details. The complaint will then be referred to the investigating officer who will contact the complainant.
To make a telephone complaint or obtain advice about noise, telephone the Environmental Protection Team on 01789 260835 during normal office hours.
If the problem occurs outside normal office hours, you can log the complaint by telephoning 01789 414066. Details needed will include the name and address of the complainant, details of type, frequency and duration of the noise and the name and address of the person or premises causing the noise. Information on any action already taken and the outcome will also be requested.
When we contact you in response to your complaint we will explain the procedure and discuss possible courses of action. Your identity will be kept confidential at all times but in some cases the other person may guess who has made the complaint and we will neither confirm nor deny any speculation. You must however be aware that the involvement of outside agencies like our own could possibly aggravate neighbour relations. In addition if the nuisance is proven we may need to take the matter to court and you may be needed to appear as a witness or provide a statement. If we cannot deal with the case or our investigations fail to produce an informal solution or sufficient evidence to take legal action, we will advise you of other possible courses of action available to you.
It is important to note that when investigating a complaint the Council has to act within the constraints of the law and we can only take legal action where the law applies and where the necessary evidence exists.
What can we deal with?
The main forms of noise nuisance that we can deal with are:
- Domestic Noise,
- Barking Dogs,
- Loud Music,
- Car Alarms,
- DIY,
- Motor Repairs,
- Factory noise,
- Equipment noise,
- Construction noise.
Things we are unable to deal with include noisy behaviour in the street, noise from normal behaviour or occasional or one-off parties during reasonable hours. Noises from intruder alarms are dealt with in a different way.
Other sources of noise
The Council does have some powers to deal with noise in streets but they are mainly limited to cover the use of machinery. The Council does not deal with noise from road traffic, aircraft or trains.
ANONYMOUS COMPLAINTS WILL NOT NORMALLY BE INVESTIGATED
Further information can be obtained from the following sources:
For further information please contact the Environmental Protection team on 01789 260835, or by emailing envhealth@stratford-dc.gov.uk
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