Noise
Pollution
Noise pollution has affected most of us at one time or
another. Each year Bexley Council receives over 3,000
complaints relating to noise. Domestic, industrial, commercial
and construction site sources are all significant. Although
not often complained about, transportation noise can also
be a serious problem. The Borough is affected to some
degree by the impacts of the A2 and A20 busy commuter
routes and is crossed by three railway lines.
The Council deals with noise under four main pieces of
legislation as follows:
The Environmental Protection Act 1990 - Part 3; Statutory
Nuisances
This Act allows the Local Authority to deal with noise
from premises which is either prejudicial to health or
a nuisance. The incidents covered are of a significant
nature far exceeding simple annoyance. The type of noise
dealt with under the Act includes:
- loud music
- barking dogs and animal noise
- intruder alarms on premises and road vehicles
- industrial noise
The Noise and Statutory Nuisances Act 1993
This Act extended the Statutory Nuisance provisions to
deal with:
- noise on the public highway from machinery and equipment
- noise from stationary vehicles (e.g. alarms, car stereos)
on the public highway.
The Control of Pollution Act 1974
Gives the Local Authority power to control noise from
construction and demolition sites.
The Noise Act 1996
Clarifies the local authority's powers to seize and retain
equipment involved in causing a noise offence.
The Statutory Nuisance provisions do not usually give
any powers to the Council to deal with the following noise
problems:
- noise from moving vehicles
- everyday domestic noise
- shouting and screaming
- sound insulation
- short-lived one-off events
[ back to top ]
Complaining
About Noise
If you are experiencing serious noise disturbance and
your approaches to get the matter resolved have met with
no success, you can make a complaint by contacting our
public protection team (pollutioncontrol@bexley.gov.uk).
The process will be as follows:
- a complaint is made
- a complaint package is sent to you together with diary
sheets
- diary sheets returned and show that a possible noise
nuisance exists
- a letter is sent to the alleged offender
- further problems experienced (diary returns)
- officer witnesses nuisance or is otherwise satisfied
of its existence or likely recurrence and legal notice
is served
- if officer witnesses a contravention of the notice,
prosecution is prepared. If the noise still continues,
offender's equipment may be seized
Our investigations as in the above procedure may take
several months. However the vast majority of complaints
are dealt with partway through the procedure.
[ back to top ]
Car Alarms
Officers can take action to silence defective car alarms.
If an alarm fails to cut out or continues to sound intermittently,
a Statutory Notice can be served. If the alarm continues
to sound in contravention of the Notice action can be
taken to disconnect the alarm or the vehicle can be towed
away to a secure place.
[ back to top ]
Noisy Parties
The legal powers available to the Council to deal with
disturbance from parties are not generally aimed at one-off
celebrations which are conducted in a reasonable manner.
However action can be taken where a party organiser is
uncooperative and the party is causing unreasonable disturbance.
A person organising an occasional party should take the
following steps:
- keep the music indoors and its volume low when heard
outside of the property
- advise your neighbours what is happening if they are
not already coming to the event
- finish at a reasonable time - remember that generally
people can expect to have peace and quiet at 11.00pm
when they are trying to get to sleep (for children it
is earlier of course)
- remember that people are usually prepared to put up
with noise from a one off celebration would feel totally
different about more regular events
If a party does cause unreasonable nuisance and informal
discussions with Environmental Health staff do not remedy
the problems there are two main formal actions that will
be considered:
- Service of a Statutory Notice on the party organiser
and/or on the DJ to abate the nuisance. If the problem
continues a prosecution may be taken. Current fines
are up to £5,000 for residential premises.
- Seizure of equipment can be carried out. The decision
on this course of action will always be made following
discussion with and cooperation from the Police.
If you are unfortunate enough to be seriously bothered
by a party in the middle of the night, you can contact
the emergency duty officer who will be able to advise
you on whether an out of hours service is available to
visit. Whether it is or not, your complaint will be registered
and would be taken into account should be problem recur.
But please remember, everyone has a right to enjoy the
use of their own property: it is only when it is unreasonable
and gives rise to serious nuisance that the Council can
take action.
[ back to top ]
Property Burglar
Alarms
The Council receives complaints each year regarding noise nuisance from defective burglar alarms fitted to domestic and business premises.
The Council has legal powers to silence an alarm if it is sounding either continuously or intermittently and causing a nuisance to neighbours. If the Council needs to silence your alarm you will be charged for the costs incurred by us and also for any work required to your alarm because it has been silenced.
Owners of alarms should ensure the following steps are taken to avoid causing a nuisance:
- ensure that the alarm is regularly serviced by an accredited engineer (e.g. NACOSS, NSI, SSaib)
- Ensure the alarm is fitted with a 20 minute cut-out device
You can also register two key holders to be available to silence your alarm if it goes off when you are away from your property. This will help avoid your neighbours being disturbed by your alarm going off and will mean the Council can call on them to silence the alarm instead of taking formal action which may result in a cost to you.
The London Borough of Bexley belongs to the London Keyholder Database which is a secure system designed to enable us to access details of keyholders for alarms that are causing a nuisance. For information on the scheme and how to register please click on the following link:
[ back to top ]
Construction and Building Sites
If you are suffering noise disturbance from a nearby construction site then Bexley Council may be able to help you. Generally the permitted hours within the Borough for noisy construction works are:
- Monday - Friday 8.00am - 6.00pm
- Saturday 8.00am - 1.00pm
- Sundays and Bank Holidays *NO WORKING
* In practice this means that no work should be undertaken which disturbs local residents. This includes possible disturbance from vehicle movements to and from the site.
If you are being disturbed by construction noise outside of these hours then we will visit the construction site and advise them of the permitted hours for ‘noisy’ working. This will be confirmed to you and, if you are still being disturbed by the problem, we will conatc the contractor/company again and you may be asked to complete diary sheets.
If there is no improvement in the situation then we will look to collect evidence to support the allegations either by installing noise-monitoring equipment or by carrying out monitoring visits. If sufficient evidence is gathered supporting the allegations of a statutory noise nuisance then a legal notice will be served on the construction company requiring them to abate (stop) the nuisance.
If the Notice is not complied with then evidence of breaches will be collected and Court action, subject to legal advice, may be started.
Often residents are disturbed by construction noise during the permitted hours of working. Disturbance from a construction site is often inevitable. We are unable to take enforcement action if the construction company is using the best practical method for the task and if it is being carried out at reasonable times, however if this is not the case we are able to act.
Emergency/essential works (gas works, railway maintenance or road surface maintenance) may need to take place at night or otherwise in unsocial hours. In such cases Bexley Council would only intervene if we felt the contractor was acting unreasonably.
[ back to top ] |
