Noise Pollution

What do we do about noise pollution?

In many cases, the person/s causing the noise may not be aware that they are causing a problem, and all that is required is a polite request for some action to be taken to resolve the issue in a friendly way. Don’t take any risks – such an approach can sometimes produce a hostile response. Please contact Environmental Services if you don’t feel able to deal with the problem yourself, or if you have tried and it hasn’t worked.Officers will investigate your complaint and decide if any legal action is needed to solve the problem. They will always try to find a solution, without legal action if possible, but can act quickly in severe cases. If they are unable to help you, they will advise you who can.

How We Do It?

Officers begin by establishing the extent of the problem:If your complaint is not urgent, officers will write to or visit the place where the noise is coming from.If the problem is severe and urgent and can be witnessed, then they will take prompt legal action, including seizing noisy equipment if necessary.If the problem has occurred before, officers will need to decide if legal action is needed, and you may be asked to fill in a record of dates, times and notes to show how bad the noise is. They may also need to visit when the noise is going on.

What happens then?

When they have completed their investigation, they will let you know and will do one of the following:
a) Give advice if no legal action is possible/necessary.
b) Require the noise to be controlled, within a time limit, by serving an abatement notice.
c) Take action directly to solve the problem.If the abatement notice does not solve the problem, then officers will have to collect more evidence before taking legal action, and this may take some time. An abatement notice lasts forever, or until the person named on it moves house or dies. If this does not stop the noise, officers will take action to stop it (for example, by seizing and destroying their amplification equipment). In addition to this, they may prosecute the person/s responsible. The maximum penalty for breaching an abatement notice is £5000 (£20,000 for a trade or business)

What about "Out of Hours"?

The Council does not provide an out-of-hours service for all noise complaints. However, from May to September inclusive, officers will be available on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings and Bank Holidays to deal with complaints of noise in the Waveney District, of a particularly severe nature (see below for full details).The person who answers the phone will not be an Environmental Health Officer and will simply take the details and pass them on to the Duty Officer on call. The Duty Officer may telephone you back to discuss the matter. It will then be decided what course of action to take which could be:-Offer adviceFollow up on the next working dayVisit to assess the situation