The sound man is deaf

After writing to the Council to ask why my noise complaint has been met with total silence ever since the man came round to measure the sound with no equipment and stood around my bedroom in peculiar poses before stating with scientific rigour “it’s worse when you stand over here” I have finally received a reply from the council.

The passage of this letter to my doorstep was fraught with all the civic complexities inherent in managing a quality service.  Firstly the young gentleman wrote to say that he would drop a letter round.  Notice he did not say he would post a letter – after all that takes time and would not be delivering at pace.  Therefore he delivered it in person.  Except of course as I live in a flat and he doesn’t have a key for the main door he could not get in.  Following this failure to see the big picture a new direction was set and someone at the council decided that spending 56p on a second class stamp represented civic value for money.  Eventually then the letter arrived with all the expedition that can be gained by collaborating and partnering with the Royal Mail. The letter states that the case has now been investigated and several visits have been made but on no occasion was a noise nuisance witnessed.

This makes me recall a previous email in which the young gentleman’s boss wrote "Important to note also that myself and Linda Johnson ( Pollution Team Manager) inspected the fan at 02.15 on Sunday 30th September. At the time of our visit we did not hear any impactful noise.” Why they inspected at this time when I specifically told them in writing that the unit only switches on at 5am was at that time a mystery to me but I suppose it is one more visit to add to the “several” they have made before they can ignore the problem.  I have made an important note of it and filed it in my folder of important correspondence.

Interesting the Council’s claim that they have noticed nothing at all in several visits is patently untrue and explicitly contradicted by their communication of 9^th of July 2017 in which they impart

“ Thank you for your email and for taken the time to meet with us last week.

After our meeting we tried to engage the shop but the manager was not available at the time.

We did however, had a meeting at the shop this morning with the manager to discuss your compliant and the possible mitigation measures.

For the extractor fan , they have been advised to install the unit on a vibration mount and to have the unit service on a regular basis with consideration to any planning condition thereof.

With the noise from the fridge unit affecting your bedroom, they have assured that it will be switch off at 7.30pm so not to affect you at night.

I have also requested a detailed programme of operation and service record of the units.

I hope these measures will be adequate to control any noise likely to affect you.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you wish to discuss matter further.

Kind regards”

To be fair.  I have two complaints.  The extractor on the wall below the kitchen and the freezer noise from below the bedroom but it seems disingenuous of the council to pretend that they have said nothing at all about either. 

After imparting that the department can take “no further action” as “on no occasion was a noise nuisance witnessed” – a statement that seems at odd with my own recollection of my conversation with the council minion who came – the letter goes on to advise me that…

“The law allows you to take your own action against a person that you feel is causing noise nuisance.  I have enclosed a Guidance Note explaining how could do this if you want to.”

Most peculiar.  Since when did the Council go about issuing gratuitous free legal advice?  Still... enclose a leaflet they do with considerable detail about how to pop down the Magistrate’s Court and do their own work for them.

Anyway, with winter setting in so the freezers don’t have to freeze as much I think we can put this issue on ice for a while but here for your edification is the Council’s free advice on how to take your neighbour to the Magistrate’s Court for sound nuisance… at your own pecuniary risk of course…to do this you must decide whether you are an average person.

Having told us they can do nothing the Council rounds off the letter by telling one not to hesitate to contact them.  Make up your mind mate!  I suppose one can talk to them as much as one wants (if one disregards the fact that when you phone the council it tells you to use their webstie) but if one wants them to do anything they fall back on the fact this is a discretionary power and they use their discretion to do nothing.  Very odd though for the goverment to around offering free legal advice.  Whatever next... one suspects the number of insoluble problems must be quite large in order for them to do this... or maybe the cupboard is bare... Or... Maybe they're just lazy.