Cyngor Sir Ynys Môn - Isle of Anglesey County Council

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Noise Policy

Isle of Anglesey County Council's noise policy.
  1. When a complaint is received either by online form, telephone, letter, email or through a councillor, the complaint will be referred to an investigating officer as soon as possible. A record of the complaint shall be made. Anonymous complaints will not be investigated.
  2. In order for the complaint to be investigated, the complainant will be asked to make a written complaint. They will be required to provide their own name and address, together with the location of the noise. They will also be required to provide an explanation as to how or why they feel the noise is a Once a written complaint has been received and providing the necessary details have been provided, an informal first letter will be sent to the person responsible for the alleged nuisance within five working days. This letter will inform them that a complaint has been received, the nature of the noise being complained of and what further investigatory action may be taken by the local authority if the situation does not improve, for example, the keeping of noise record sheets and ultimately, noise monitoring. A time scale of three months will be given as an indication as to the period in which further investigations may be made.
  3. Following the initial letter of complaint, a reply will be sent to the complainant within five working days. The letter will inform them what course of action the local authority has taken and request that they detail any future incidents of noise on record sheets, which will be supplied. The investigating officer may, dependent upon the circumstances, suggest the use of a software application to record and submit logged incidents of noise to the local authority. Where this is done, the service user will be given additional instruction of its use.
    For the Environmental Health Department to investigate any noise nuisance complaint, the complainant must complete and return a Noise Witness Form along with the Nuisance Record Sheets.
  4. If after the first letter, the complainant perceives that there has been no satisfactory reduction in the noise and record sheets detailing a reasonable number of occurrences are returned to the department, formal investigations will begin. However, it should be noted that if a considerable time has lapsed between the first letter and subsequent further complaints by the complainant, for example 3 months, the Department will consider the complaint as a new one, and the procedure outlined above may begin again.
  5. To investigate a complaint formally, the appropriate officer will normally call at the complainant’s property or within close proximity up to three times, (the duration of the stay will not normally exceed 1 hour) when the noise is most likely to be heard. The appropriate time will normally be determined by reference to the previously submitted noise record If the noise occurs outside normal working hours, at the discretion of the environmental health manager it may be decided to either attempt to witness the noise, by calling at the complainant’s property by prior arrangement or alternatively, noise monitoring equipment may be left at the property and the complainant requested to record the noise when it occurs. The length of time which the equipment is left at the property is at the discretion of the investigating officer, but will normally be in his/her opinion sufficient to capture a ‘picture; of the noise complained of. This will normally be determined by examining the noise record sheets submitted by the complainant.
  6. After completing the formal investigation, the complainant will either be informed that the Department intends to serve an abatement notice or that in its opinion, the noise did not amount to a statutory nuisance. The complainant at this stage may wish to proceed with a private action against the person in question, some advice on this and statutory nuisance in general may be obtained from the department.
  7. The identity of the complainant will not be disclosed by the department during the initial investigation stage of the alleged nuisance. However, a complainant’s identity may often be guessed. The department will not proceed with formal action against a person responsible for a noise nuisance unless written confirmation has been received from the complainant that he/she is prepared to provide a statement and appear in Court if necessary.
  8. After the service of notice, the alleged offender may wish to appeal against any requirement contained within it. This is done to a magistrate's court and the council may call the complainant as a witness to support its case, if required. Similarly, if after the Notice has been served, the nuisance is not abated, the council may decide to prosecute the person causing the nuisance and the complainant may be required to give evidence.

This noise policy has been compiled having regard to:

  • Human Rights Act 1998
  • The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000

Chief Public Protection Officer
Isle of Anglesey County Council
Council Offices
Llangefni
Anglesey
LL77 7TW

Telephone: (01248) 752 820

Email: ehealth@anglesey.gov.wales