The complainant is required to complete noise complaint record forms (link below) and return after two weeks or other appropriate period depending on the nature and the complaint. You will be asked to confirm your willingness to provide a witness statement and give evidence in Court. It is essential that the noise complaint record form is accurate with regard to the dates and times and duration of the noise.
Stage 1
The alleged perpetrator of the noise nuisance will be contacted to be advised of the complaint. At this stage your details will be treated as confidential
Stage 2
Up to three visits will then be made in an attempt to witness the noise. Alternatively monitoring equipment may be left at your premises, or you may be put on the "out-of hours" call-out list enabling you to request an Officer to attend your premises outside of normal office hours to witness the alleged nuisance.
(Log sheets should be kept by you until such times that the problem is resolved either by the Council or by your own actions).
Stage 3
If the officer is satisfied of the existence of a statutory nuisance during the investigation the complaint will move onto stage 3. At this stage you may be required to produce a witness statement and should be prepared to give evidence in Court. An Abatement Notice will usually be served on completion of this stage of the investigation. You should be aware that the person served with the notice has a right of appeal to the courts.
It is an offence not to comply with an Abatement Notice. If conditions on the notice are broken you should inform the investigating officer of any possible breaches, and maintain the noise complaint record forms. If further complaints are received the recipient of the notice shall be advised of their obligations with regard to the notice. Further complaints will be investigated and monitored where practicable, with a view to enforcing the requirements of the notice. Once an offence has been witnessed by an Authorised Officer the offender may be prosecuted at the Magistrates Court.
Stage 4
The service in Craigavon is not a 24 hours 7 days a week response service. For noise concerns outside of office hours, a range of approaches are deployed to investigate nuisances, including programmed inspections, the use of monitoring equipment, and on-call officers being available for specific circumstances and events.
For further information, please contact the Environmental Protection Team on 028 38 312 448.
If the Council is unable to help you with your problem Civil Action can be taken under common law or you could take your complaint direct to the Magistrates Court (Article 38 The Pollution Control & Local Government (NI) Order 1978). If you are considering taking your own action you are advised to contact a solicitor
Additional Information
Alternatively, the complainant may seek to resolve the complaint through mediation
www.mediationnorthernireland.org
Additional sources of information can be found on the following internet sites but please Note: WHW is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
Four Stages
