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How Stratford on Avon District Council can help you
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.
This page aims to provide you with information about our procedures and services to investigate noise complaints.
Problems with noisy neighbours?
If your neighbour's noise is disturbing you, an important but often overlooked method of dealing with the problem is to talk to your neighbour politely and discuss it with them. We try to urge all complainants who contact us to try to resolve the problem informally with their neighbour first. However, we find that many people are unable to do this, either because previous informal attempts have failed or because they are worried about violence or intimidation - especially where alcohol or drug use is suspected.
If you cannot resolve the noise problem easily with your neighbour, please speak to the Environmental Protection Team. Your name and address will be kept completely confidential (unfortunately, we are not normally able to respond to anonymous complaints). You can contact us by telephoning 01789 267575; writing to us at Environmental Protection, Stratford on Avon District Council, Elizabeth House, Church Street, Stratford upon Avon, Warks CV37 6HX; by faxing the details to us on 01789 260808; completing an online report form; or by e-mailing us at envhealth@stratford-dc.gov.uk
What happens next?
Once we have received your request for advice or action, our quality target is to reply to you within five working days. However, if the noise is of an especially urgent nature, i.e. a car or intruder alarm sounding, we will get back to you as soon as possible. You will be contacted by a member of the environmental protection team who will discuss your complaint with you.
Normally we will be interested to know about the type of noise (i.e. loud music, DIY, barking dogs etc), how long the noise has been a problem and how often it occurs. We will also ask whether or not you have talked to the person responsible, and if so what their reaction was.
Usually, our first action in dealing with noise nuisance complaints is to visit or write to the person alleged to be causing the problem (once again, we would stress that your details will be kept confidential and not disclosed) to inform them that a complaint has been received about noise coming from their property. The basic text of the letter is:
'The Council's Environmental Protection Team is responsible for dealing with complaints about pollution. This work includes investigating complaints about noise.
I have to advise you that a complaint has been made to the team concerning noise said to be coming from the above address. It is alleged that the noise was caused by [description of noise problem e.g. loud music late at night].
We in the team are concerned about noise for a number of reasons and we take action in cases where noise nuisance can be confirmed by direct observation by Officers. In some circumstances evidence obtained from monitoring equipment can be used to support formal action. Please be assured that we take no formal action unless:
1. we are satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that a nuisance exists;
2. we have failed to resolve the case by informal means.
Please consider these points carefully and if you think that the complaint against you may be justified then please consider how you might prevent the problem recurring.
If you wish to discuss this matter further please contact me'.
In the vast majority of complaints that we handle, this simple informal letter is enough to prompt people to consider the noise they make and how it affects others and resolves the problem.
However, in some cases we may suggest that the most appropriate first action might be to involve a local Mediation Service. All contact is confidential and they can be contacted for general advice or more involved assistance on 02476 496748, Mon - Fri 9-5pm or you can e-mail them at gail.cooper@asb4.org.uk
If you or your neighbour are unwilling to take this course of action to seek a solution, then we would be legally obliged to continue with possible action under section 80 of the Environmental Protection Act.
If after we have sent out the letter you are still suffering from the noise then please contact us when it is occurring and we will investigate and try to witness it directly. Officers from the team need to witness the noise (usually several times) to determine if it amounts to a 'statutory nuisance' under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
As such it may takes weeks or even months to gather sufficient evidence for formal action where informal action has not halted the problem. However we usually advise people that the worse the problem is, the easier it is to gather the evidence so a rapid resolution may be possible.
What constitutes a nuisance?
The most commonly used law relating to noise nuisance (Section 79 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 - see 'further information' at the end of the document), does not define precisely what is or is not a nuisance, i.e. it does not specify noise levels in decibels or set time limits for making a noise. Instead, the concept of nuisance depends on:
- how often the noise occurs,
- how loud it is,
- the time of day / night,
- the nature of the area (i.e. rural, residential, city centre etc) and;
- whether or not the sound has a particularly irritating characteristic (for example a high pitch whine from a factory).
Essentially if the problem is severe enough to be prejudicial to health or it stops you from enjoying a normal routine (e.g. prevents you from watching TV, stops you sleeping, or you are unable to open your windows) then it is likely to be a nuisance in law. (NB: Unfortunately traffic noise cannot be considered a statutory nuisance).
What happens if a letter or informal discussion does not solve the problem?
The key issue will be to gather independent evidence of the problem. Usually this will involve assessing the noise you are experiencing. This will be done in a number of ways. Firstly, we may ask you to keep log sheets to record the date and times of noisy events and descriptions of how these affected you. But as mentioned above, by far the most important method that we use to assess noise nuisance, is for an Officer to witness it in person at your property. To do this effectively, we ask our complainants to call us as often as possible when the noise is actually occurring. If the problem only occurs outside office hours you can contact our Answering Service by dialling 01789 267575. They will pass the details to the Officer on the next working day. The Answering Service is available whenever our offices are closed and the details you provide will always be logged and added to the complaint record.
If we are unable to assess the noise in person (for example if it occurs at very irregular times, then we can install monitoring equipment which records the sound in a way that can be used as evidence in court. The officer dealing with your case will also be able to discuss whether programmed visits may be appropriate outside our core hours.
If we are able to witness the noise, and are satisfied that it amounts to a 'nuisance', we will send a letter to the second party (and possibly visit). We will explain that we have now observed the noise complained of, and will warn them that if the noise nuisance continues, the law requires us to serve them with an Abatement Notice under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. In a small number of especially severe cases it may be appropriate to serve an Abatement Notice straight away, rather than sending a warning letter.
What is an Abatement Notice?
According to the Environmental Protection Act 1990, once a local authority is satisfied that a noise nuisance is occurring or likely to occur, it must serve an 'Abatement Notice' on the person responsible for the noise or the occupier of the premises where the noise is originating. An abatement notice is a legal document that requires the person on whom the notice is served to stop the nuisance or restrict its occurrence or recurrence (i.e. to certain hours of the day) or it can require works to be carried out. Typical wording might include 'cease or cause to cease the playing of recorded or live music in such a manner that a nuisance is caused and ensure that the use of the premises for any purpose does not cause noise amounting to a nuisance'.
On receipt, your neighbour has the right to appeal against the Notice in the Magistrates Court, providing this is done within twenty-one days of the date of service. If they win their appeal, then the Magistrates may vary the requirements of the Notice or withdraw it completely and may award costs to the appellant (i.e. against the Council). If the appeal is not upheld by the magistrates, the Notice will remain in force and the Council may be awarded costs.
What happens if the abatement notice is ignored?
Breaching an Abatement Notice is a criminal offence, so if your neighbour carried on making the noise we would need to witness it in just the same way as described above. If we obtain evidence that a Notice has been contravened we would look to our departmental enforcement policy to decide whether prosecution should be initiated. Senior managers would be involved in this decision. The outcome of a breach could be either a written warning, a recommendation for a formal caution, or a prosecution in the Magistrates Court. If your neighbour was to be found guilty by the Magistrates he or she may be liable to a fine of up to £5000 (or up to £20,000 if it is a business that is causing the nuisance), for each breach of the Notice.
In rare cases, if the person causing the noise rents the property in which they live, we may be able to serve a Notice on the landlord, as well as or instead of the person causing the noise. If the person causing the noise is a Housing Association tenant then the association will be able to initiate possession proceedings against them on the basis of our evidence.
Seizing stereo equipment and other goods
If we have served an Abatement Notice and have strong evidence that the recipient has breached the notice and will probably do so again, the Council may apply to the Magistrates for a warrant to gain entry to your neighbour's property to seize any equipment or articles used to cause a noise nuisance. This includes stereo equipment, speakers, musical instruments and even compact discs.
We are then able to hold the equipment in store for twenty-eight days. At the end of this period the owner can apply to have it back, on payment of the costs incurred by the Council when carrying out the seizure and for storage. However, if during the twenty-eight day period the Council initiates a prosecution, the equipment is retained until the Court hearing. If the defendant is found guilty, it is the Magistrates who will decide what happens to any seized articles. Frequently they are permanently confiscated.
What happens if the Council is unable to gather any evidence of a nuisance or decides that the noise does not amount to a nuisance?
The environmental protection team is legally obliged to take reasonable steps to investigate your complaint (the term 'reasonable' includes financial considerations) in order to gather any evidence of the problem. If having done this, we still have insufficient evidence of a noise nuisance, or the evidence that we have leads us to conclude that the noise is not a nuisance in law, then it may not be an appropriate use of public money to investigate the matter further.
However, the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (section 82) allows you to take your own action by complaining directly to the Magistrates Court. You would have to produce evidence to satisfy the Magistrates that the noise problem amounts to a nuisance, in just the same way that the Council must when it takes legal action. If you decide to take this course of action, you must give the person responsible for the noise at least three days written notice of your intention to complain to the court and the nature of the complaint. You should deliver this letter by post or by hand, ensuring that it is dated and that you have kept a copy for your own records. We can provide you with a leaflet explaining this process.
When you then contact the court, you will need to tell them that you wish to make a complaint under section 82 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. It is more than likely that this would be done in person, at the Magistrates Court, by speaking to a Clerk of the Court. The full procedure would be explained to you at this stage and you may be asked to demonstrate that you have evidence of the problem. You should also inform the court whether or not you have contacted the environmental protection team about the problem.
The court will then make a decision as to whether a summons should be issued, and you may be asked to serve this on the person responsible for the noise. The summons will state the allotted date and time for the hearing. At the hearing, both sides will be able to give evidence, call witnesses and have legal representation. If the court decides that you are suffering a noise nuisance it will make an order which will require that the person stops causing the noise and any measures or work that will have to be carried out to achieve this.
The order may also prohibit the recurrence of the noise. The person responsible may also be fined at this point. You would usually be awarded your costs in bringing the case. If your neighbour then breached the Court order he or she will be found guilty of an offence and may be fined. Alternatively, if the case is dismissed, you will have to pay your costs and you may also have to pay the costs of your neighbour.
Where can I get further information?
More information about neighbour noise can be obtained from the following:
- Environmental Protection UK, 44 Grand Parade, Brighton, East Sussex, BN2 9QA
- The Department For Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Zone 4/G10, Ashdown House, 123 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6DE. (Website only, however we can provide copies if required).
- The full text of the key law relating to neighbour nuisance (Section 79 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990) is available online from HMSO. (We can provide copies of this text if you do not have access to the internet).
- Noise Abatement Society
- Independent Mediation Service
For further information please contact the Environmental Protection team on 01789 267575, or by emailing envhealth@stratford-dc.gov.uk
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