Noise
Overview
We're all experiencing unprecedented challenges as a community at the moment due to coronavirus. Our Community Protection team is urging everyone to be considerate of their neighbours while the government requires us to stay at home. We're all having to adapt quickly to a new and unexpected way of life, and everyone will at some time find the imposed changes difficult. It's at times like this when we'll need to be more considerate of how our actions affect neighbours and to be more tolerant of their behaviours. Community Protection are here to help if you're experiencing disturbances from noise, but please do all you can to be good neighbours, particularly during these stressful times. We’re seeing some great examples of communities pulling together despite the challenges we're all facing, but please remember and adhere to the government rules - you can't visit friends or even relatives to socialise. If we receive reports of gatherings we'll pass them to the police. For information about staying at home and social distancing, take a look at our coronavirus pages and the Gov.uk website. Let’s all pull together and stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives. |
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Noise is generally regarded as unwanted sound. It could be too loud, intrusive or just happening at the wrong time or without warning. Car alarms, barking dogs and noisy neighbours are all examples of noise that can cause disturbance, but they don't always constitute a nuisance - it's likely we all make unwanted noise sometimes without realising it.
General advice
Information and advice on resolving neighbour disputes can be found on the Government's GOV.UK website
If you have a problem with noise:
- Try to solve the problem informally, by talking to the other party
- You could speak to us, and we may be able to help if talking to your neighbour doesn't work
- If the problem persists, it may be an antisocial behaviour issue.
- As a last resort, you can take your own action through the courts.
What can we do?
If speaking to the person making the noise hasn't resolved the problem, you can contact us to explain what the issues are and how they are affecting you. We aim to resolve issues quickly and so we will contact the person alleged to be making the noise to discuss the issues and try to agree a solution informally.
If it is not possible to reach an informal solution we may try to mediate between you and the person making the noise in order to try and resolve the issues.
We find that most issues can be resolved informally, however the council can potentially take further more formal action if it is felt necessary once other options have been explored.
There are some occasions when we can't take formal action, for example:
- everyday noises audible due to poor sound insulation between adjoining properties
- normal road noise
- aircraft noise
Taking your own legal action
You have the right to take private legal action. Take a look at our advice on tackling environmental nuisance through the legal system.
You can also seek advice on the government's GOV.UK resolving neighbour disputes web pages