POLLUTION AND NOISE CONTROL

POLLUTION CONTROL

Burning of Waste Materials

It is an offence under the Clean Air (NI) Order 1981 for an industrial or commercial business to cause the emission of dark smoke by burning refuse materials. Employers have a Duty of Care to transport and dispose of waste materials through the proper channels with the use of the prescribed waste transfer notes.

Householders should not burn garden refuse etc if the smoke causes a nuisance to neighbours.

Litter

The Council have the responsibility to clear litter found on adopted land. On private land or other Agency land, the matter will be referred to the appropriate agency.

The Environmental Health Service Unit will investigate complaints of dumping on private land to ascertain if a Public Health Nuisance exists and a Public Health Abatement Notice can be served on the land owner or occupier.

Witnessed litter offences can be pursued by the EH Service Unit with a view to issuing a Fixed Penalty Notice or instigating legal proceedings.

Complaints of Malodour

The complainant is requested to keep log-sheets and a Public Health Notice can be issued to eradicate the nuisance, if nuisance has been established by the Council Officer. For example; a chemical processing factory regularly emitted strong odours which caused nuisance to local residents. Following investigation, the existence of a Public Health Nuisance was established and a Nuisance Abatement Notice was served. The factory manager took appropriate steps to eradicate the problem and the matter was duly resolved.

Ruinous and Dilapidated Buildings

Under Article 66 of The Pollution Control Order 1978, if it appears to the Council that a building or structure is by reason of its ruinous or dilapidated condition, seriously detrimental to the amenities of the neighbourhood then the Council may by Notice require the owner to carry out works of repair or restoration as may be necessary in the interests of amenity.

For further advice on Noise and Pollution matters, contact Environmental Health on 02890 494644.

NOISE CONTROL

The Pollution Control and Local Government (N.I.) Order 1978 allows the Council's Environmental Health Service to deal with excessive noise disturbance if they think it is causing a nuisance to a person, or people, living nearby.

Unfortunately, there is no fixed level of noise, which constitutes a noise nuisance. Individual circumstances differ and each case needs to be judged on its merits. In deciding whether noise amounts to a statutory nuisance, the following has to be considered: -

• Loudness of the noise
• When the noise occurs
• How often the noise occurs
• The effect on the person affected by the noise
• The likely reaction of the average reasonable person to the noise

What is involved in a Noise Investigation?

The Environmental Health Service will try firstly, to resolve any complaint informally. The alleged noisemaker will be contacted by in writing, giving advice and warned that the complaint may be formally investigated.

The complainant will normally be asked by the Environmental Health Officer to keep noise monitoring records sheets for a period of three or more weeks. This is to show the extent of the problem and will identify any trends or patterns.

If, on completion of this information, it indicates that a problem may exist, an Officer will attempt to gather independent evidence. This can be done by setting up noise monitoring equipment to record and measure the offending noise and by Officers witnessing the noise when it is happening and measuring it.

If the Officer is satisfied that a statutory noise nuisance exists, a Noise Abatement Notice can be served on the person responsible for making the noise. Failure to adhere to this notice can result in prosecution by the council.

The Council will not take anonymous complaints of noise disturbance, but complainants can be assured that their details are confidential. However, if legal action is to be taken, the complainant's details must be written on the abatement notice. The complainant must also be willing to appear as a witness in any legal proceedings.

What is Noise?

Noise is unwanted sound and it is very subjective with people reacting to it in different ways.

Domestic Noise

What can cause extreme annoyance to one person may hardly be noticed by another.

What you may think is good music, may be an awful racket to your neighbour. Consider reducing the volume or wearing head-phones. Move TV and speakers away from your neighbors walls. Raise them above the floor if possible.

Vacuuming late at night may suit your lifestyle but may awaken the baby in the flat below.

After you leave for work your dog may be barking because it is lonely or bored. Constant barking or whining can be disturbing to your neighbors. A well trained dog will not bark unnecessarily.

Noise can annoy us, irritate us, cause stress, disturb our peace and quiet and affect our sleep.

Industrial/Commercial noise

Occasionally, noise complaints concerning commercial or industrial noise sources are received. The Environmental Health Officer will ensure where a nuisance is established, that all reasonable and practical steps are taken by the person responsible to ensure that the noise levels are controlled at a suitable level. Any resulting formal action where a statutory noise nuisance has been served may be followed up by court action.

Examples of such complaints include noisy generators, air-conditioning systems, early morning un-loading of goods etc.

Intruder Alarm Registration Scheme

Castlereagh Borough Council's Environmental Health Service has established a voluntary Intruder Alarm Register for domestic and commercial properties whereby any alarm holder can complete registration forms providing details of their alarm and two keyholders. The alarm holder should notify the police and also the Environmental Health Service Unit.

Occasionally an intruder alarm can sound without reason and when no one is in the property to turn it off a noise nuisance can develop with complaints received by the Environmental Health Service from those living or working nearby.

By registering your alarm details this will enable any complaint to be resolved promptly minimise noise disturbance and removing the need for formal action by the council.

A keyholder is a person who owns a set of keys to the alarm holders property and can, if necessary, gain entry and reset the alarm within 20 minutes of a complaint being made.

The registration forms can be obtained by clicking below or through your local intruder alarm installer.

Please click to download a copy of Notification to PSNI of Nominated Intruder Alarm Key Holders. Registration Form

Please click to download a copy of Notification to Local Environmental Health Authority of Intruder Alarm Key Holder Details. Registration Form

Noisy Building Construction Works

Building contractors should not carry out noisy work activity likely to disturb neighbours outside of the hours of 8am - 6pm on weekdays; 9am - 1pm on Saturdays and should not carry out noisy work on a Sunday although there may be extenuating circumstances.

Most Frequently Asked Questions

Q. My neighbour's dog regularly barks for long periods of time causing annoyance. I want to complain about it but don't want the neighbour to know that I am the person complaining. Can you please speak to the owner of the dog?

A. The Council will not investigate a complaint whenever the complainant withholds their name and address. Under the Pollution Control (NI) Order 1978, the Council must act if they are satisfied that a noise nuisance exists but to establish such a nuisance there must be two identifiable parties, i.e the person suffering the nuisance and the person responsible for the nuisance. Please note that under the Data Protection legislation the Council cannot release the complainant's details to anyone however if the investigation proceeds to the formal stage then the complainant's details must be included on the Noise Abatement Notice and they must be prepared to appear in court as a witness if needs be.

Q. There is a barking dog in the street behind our house which is very annoying. Can you speak to the owner of the dog?

A. No. The complainant must substantiate their complaint by providing specific details i.e the house number/ name and the name of the street /road. It is not feasible for an officer to call at a number of houses and hazard a guess at which particular dog is offending the complainant. If this is not physically possible for you because of a mobility or health problem then you are advised to ask family or friend to identify the house in question.

Q. If an Abatement of Noise Nuisance Notice is served on the owner of a barking dog, will the Council take away or destroy the dog?

A. No. The dog owner would be obliged to take steps to stop the Noise Nuisance and how they achieve that is in their hands. They may choose to :- re-house the dog, exercise it more, arrange behavioural training etc. Vets can provide advice on dealing with dogs who are barking excessively.

Q. Late at night I am woken by the sounding of taxi horns calling my neighbour's house. Can the Council deal with this?

A. No. The police enforce the Road Traffic Act with regard to noisy vehicles.

Q. Noisy builders at my neighbour's house woke me at 7 am. Are they allowed to start work so early?

A. Noisy building construction work should not be carried out before 8 am and after 6 pm on weekdays nor outside the hours of 9 am - 1 pm on a Saturday and there should not be any work carried out on a Sunday.

Q. An audible intruder alarm down the street was activated late last night and is still creating a disturbance this morning. We couldn't sleep last night. Can the Council do anything about it?

A, We encourage alarm holders to register the details of keyholders with the local police station and to ensure that the alarms are set to cut-off after 20 minutes. Apart from the obvious noise nuisance to local residents, prolonged ringing can be counter-productive and may attract intrusion. The Council have powers to give Notice of de-activating the alarm and arrange for a contractor to carry out the de-activation. The alarm holder is then charged for the costs of the work carried out.