A Birmingham council made headlines this week when it sent a letter to four-year-old Ariana after her neighbours made a complaint about the noise she made. Although sent by mistake, the letter claimed Ariana’s “anti-social behaviour” would be investigated further if another complaint was made. In this blog, we take a look at noisy neighbours and how you can solve the problem.
First we had Maurice the cockerel being taken to court over his morning crow, now we have a four-year-old girl being told off by a local council for making too much noise. Following grievances from a neighbour in their block of flats, Birmingham City Council accused Ariana of “loud shouting, loud banging and loud visitors” in a letter that was accidentally addressed to her instead of her mother Bella. But how seriously should we take such a complaint?
When noise becomes a nuisance
Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, a nuisance noise is something that affects a person’s health or causes disturbance to them in their property. To be a statutory nuisance, a noise must be regular and occur for a long period of time. Of course, in the case of four-year-old Ariana, it is evident that noise was an ongoing issue because of the multiple complaints made to her household. But all kids make noise, don’t they? So how can the council resolve such an issue?
Solving a noisy problem
One solution as recommended by Gov.uk is to talk to the noisy neighbours before making a formal complaint. This can be done by writing a letter or speaking in person, but you should always ensure it is safe to do so. Many disputes can be solved without escalating to higher powers. You can even use a mediation service, which involves an impartial party who is trained in dealing with difficult discussions between two opposing sides. If those steps don’t work, you can make a formal complaint to your local council, like Ariana’s neighbours did - but this should only be if the noise is a statutory nuisance. Police can also get involved if the nuisance noise is classed as anti-social behaviour. The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 defines anti-social behaviour as “likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one of more persons not of the same household”.
A word from us
Although we cannot solve neighbourly disputes surrounding nuisance noise, we do ensure that noise mitigation is at the heart of everything we do. Our acoustic engineers at Echo Barrier have created award-winning temporary acoustic barriers which can reduce noise by up to 99%. We can’t enclose little Ariana but we can reduce noise from building sites or at live music events. Using acoustic barriers ensures that both the community and workers are protected from the effects of noise.