Excessive noise can make life a misery. Noisy neighbours, disturbance from traffic and aircraft, noise from industry or construction sites and barking dogs are just some of the problems that can be experienced.
Contact Details | Online Services | |
Phone: | 024 7637 6405 | |
Fax: | 024 7637 6214 | |
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Service Unit: | Environmental Health | |
There is a process to deal fairly with noise pollution complaints. Although the majority of cases are resolved informally, this can (and has) led to prosecution and conviction of people who cause a nuisance and fail to comply with the law.
How to Report
If you wish to make a complaint, please be ready to provide the following information:
- Your name and address and (where possible) a daytime phone number
- The address (or site) where the noise is coming from and the type of noise (e.g. barking dogs, loud music)
- When and for how long the noise occurs (it will help if you have made a written record of the times and dates when the problem has occurred)
- The way the noise affects you (e.g. stops you from sleeping)
- Anything you have done to try and deal with the problem (e.g. speaking to the person making the noise)
Please note that in some cases, e.g. traffic and aircraft noise, officers may have to liaise with other agencies to seek resolution of a problem.
Action
In most cases on your first call you will be given advice and asked to keep a diary of the noise events, recording the information described above over a period of time. As part of the investigation process, the person making the noise will also usually be written to to inform them of the complaint and seek their response.
An out of hours noise monitoring service (called 'Kilo 2') may be available for those who have gone through the noise complaints procedure, but is not available 'on demand'. Any calls from clients not on the Kilo 2 list taken by NBBC's emergency out of hours officer are passed to the environmental protection team the next working day.
If it proves impossible to resolve the problem informally and the council decides to take legal action following your complaint, you will be asked to provide a statement and may be required to appear in court as a witness. They would discuss this with you at the time and take your wishes into account.
