Terrible Neighbours

[ladynuttiepig]

books
l am of to bed
get the bikers in
nn babe xxxx

[SalusLibrorum]

ejean9, we are in a small avenue the houses are all bungalows and they are semi detached.

The last time I was talking to enviromental health they said that the new build house have thinner walls (the houses were built in 2001). This I can understand but when your in the living room at the far end of the house, with all doors closed and you still hear the music, its just too much.

The council did say about the machines for recording the level of noise, before they sent the letter out they said if the letter did not work then we would get this machine. However they do not seem to want to give us one! I called the council this morning, again I was told the woman dealing with us was on a call and they would get her to call me when she was available. I am still waiting.

We put up with this for months before calling the council, we thought if they got a letter that they might realise that the music is annoying us. Its not just the music though, we hear their tv aswell. When our tv is on and im in our bedroom (opposite the living room), I cannot hear the tv!

Ok, well I used to be an EHO, and if Environmental Health won't install a datacorder, you need to call them out. They will have an out of hours service, use it. They will then come out and witness the noise.

At the same time keep a diary, record all dates, times, duration of noise, and the effect it has - can't hear the TV, woke us up etc. to give some idea of loudness.

You can also take your own action under Section 82 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (unless things have changed a lot in the last 5 years), for which you will also need a record of the instances, type and duration - hence the need to keep the diary.

Here we go, this is from Bracknell Forest, but it's the same all over:

"Complaining direct to a magistrate court
Section 82 Procedures
If, for whatever reason reason, the Council does not or cannot take action, or if you
do not wish to involve them, you can complain about a noise problem direct to the
Magistrates Court, under section 82 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
The Magistrates Court will need to be persuaded that the noise problem amounts to
a statutory nuisance. If so it can apply legal controls, impose a fine and award costs
if appropriate.
How do I proceed?
It is important that you keep a written record of the dates, times and duration of the
offending noise, as well as a description of its nature and the distress it caused you
in the reasonable occupation of your home.
Try and resolve the situation informally before contacting the court by writing to the
person responsible for the noise.
Of course, before taking any legal action you may wish to speak to a solicitor
although this is not required by section 82.
Give fair warning of your action
If you decide to take action under Section 82 of the 1990 Act, you must give 3 days’
notice in writing to the person responsible for the noise of your intentions, and
provide them with details of your complaint. Deliver your notice by registered post
or hand and make sure your letter is dated and you have kept a copy"

http://www.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/b...d-by-noise.pdf

I've known people take action when the Council has been unable to catch them at it, and it can be very successful.

[deltadelta48]

Seems very nasty and done on purpose.

In US noise laws vary but in our city a call the the cops brings them right over and they make sure the music is off immediately. If the people are so bold as to turn it up after the police leave, a quck calls gets they back and they will take them down to the station for a little talk!! Usually that solves the problem. If they are a repeat offender, the city attorney handles the case and they end up in court and/or paying a fine.

Seems like your police could stop this in two seconds flat!

[Pink_Panther]

Seems very nasty and done on purpose.

Seems like your police could stop this in two seconds flat!

Same type of thing I've been banging on about!
re: the bullying thread,

someone trying to take Hangers for a ride! thread.

and this one 'Neighbours!

it boils down to dishonesty, selfishness & aggression!
do-godders have muddied the water. Got a lot of peeps to sympathize with the bad guys!
Just liken J Edgar - That sucks!

Zero tolerance! especially for smart asses!

[leadhillsonline]

Seems very nasty and done on purpose.

In US noise laws vary but in our city a call the the cops brings them right over and they make sure the music is off immediately. If the people are so bold as to turn it up after the police leave, a quck calls gets they back and they will take them down to the station for a little talk!! Usually that solves the problem. If they are a repeat offender, the city attorney handles the case and they end up in court and/or paying a fine.

Seems like your police could stop this in two seconds flat!

In Scotland it is classed as a civil matter so the police can do nothing unless it is after a set time. They can ask the person to turn it down but that is all they can or will do.

[SalusLibrorum]

Seems very nasty and done on purpose.

In US noise laws vary but in our city a call the the cops brings them right over and they make sure the music is off immediately. If the people are so bold as to turn it up after the police leave, a quck calls gets they back and they will take them down to the station for a little talk!! Usually that solves the problem. If they are a repeat offender, the city attorney handles the case and they end up in court and/or paying a fine.

Seems like your police could stop this in two seconds flat!

No, over here the police don't have any power to do anything, unless the premises is a licensed place of entertainment (in which case they can close it down and revoke the license I believe). All the power to Act on noise complaints is vested in the local Environmental Health Department, who should be acting to establish if this is indeed a Statutory Nuisance.

A Statutory Nuisance is something (defined in section 79 of the EPA '90) from another premises that materially affects the enjoyment of one's own property - and it has to be something severe and ongoing, it can't be just that someone has the odd party that keeps everyone up all night. EHOs also can't take account of special circumstances of the complainant either, so if you're a night worker needing to sleep during the day, or you're especially sensitive to noise for some reason, then they can't help if it wouldn't bother an ordinary person.

Personally I'd go with phoning the out of hours service every time it happens, keeping a log of what's going on, and then after three months or so, review the log, and if it seems that the log shows that a case can be made and Env Health have taken no action, then I'd start section 82 proceedings direct to the Magistrates' Court, and start off a formal complaint procedure with the Council for their inaction (depending on circumstances - they may have come out each time but the noise has stopped).

[SalusLibrorum]

Same type of thing I've been banging on about!
re: the bullying thread,

someone trying to take Hangers for a ride! thread.

and this one 'Neighbours!

it boils down to dishonesty, selfishness & aggression!
do-godders have muddied the water. Got a lot of peeps to sympathize with the bad guys!
Just liken J Edgar - That sucks!

Zero tolerance! especially for smart asses!

With respect, I don't think that the police should be acting outside their powers, that's very dangerous.

How do I put this politely? I think you need to calm down a bit, your posts look a bit hysterical (probably due to the exclamation marks all over them).

[earthangel]

Yeah Books, you're obviously a bit loopy, like the rest of us, so you're perfectly safe, 'cause the inmates definitely run this particular asylum!

[ladynuttiepig]

:d:d:d:d

[Pink_Panther]

I can see your point on the hysteria thing. But that aside I do have very strong opinions! I live in the rough end of town - I've seen assualts, police raids, heard shouting and screaming through the early hours. And all from my kitchen window!

I think anyones view should be respected - my perspective on a lot of things is close up and sometimes personal!