Posted By Adrian Watson Environmental Protection Act 1990. S. 79.—(1) Subject to subsections (2) to (6) below, the following matters constitute "statutory nuisances" for the purposes of this Part, that is to say— (g) noise emitted from premises so as to be prejudicial to health or a nuisance; The Statutory Nuisance (Appeals) Regulations 1995 SI 1995 No. 2644 states: 2.—(1) The provisions of this regulation apply in relation to an appeal brought by any person under section 80(3) of the 1990 Act (appeals to magistrates) against an abatement notice served upon him by a local authority. (2) The grounds on which a person served with such a notice may appeal under section 80(3) are any one or more of the following grounds that are appropriate in the circumstances of the particular case— (a) that the abatement notice is not justified by section 80 of the 1990 Act (summary proceedings for statutory nuisances); (b) that there has been some informality, defect or error in, or in connection with, the abatement notice, or in, or in connection with, any copy of the abatement notice served under section 80A(3) (certain notices in respect of vehicles, machinery or equipment); (c) that the authority have refused unreasonably to accept compliance with alternative requirements, or that the requirements of the abatement notice are otherwise unreasonable in character or extent, or are unnecessary; (d) that the time, or where more than one time is specified, any of the times, within which the requirements of the abatement notice are to be complied with is not reasonably sufficient for the purpose; (f) that, in the case of a nuisance under section 79(1)(g) or (ga) of the 1990 Act (noise emitted from premises), the requirements imposed by the abatement notice by virtue of section 80(1)(a) of the Act are more onerous than the requirements for the time being in force, in relation to the noise to which the notice relates, of— (i) any notice served under section 60 or 66 of the 1974 Act (control of noise on construction sites and from certain premises), or (ii) any consent given under section 61 or 65 of the 1974 Act (consent for work on construction sites and consent for noise to exceed registered level in a noise abatement zone), or (iii) any determination made under section 67 of the 1974 Act (noise control of new buildings); (g) that, in the case of a nuisance under section 79(1)(ga) of the 1990 Act (noise emitted from or caused by vehicles, machinery or equipment), the requirements imposed by the abatement notice by virtue of section 80(1)(a) of the Act are more onerous than the requirements for the time being in force, in relation to the noise to which the notice relates, of any condition of a consent given under paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 to the 1993 Act (loudspeakers in streets or roads); (h) that the abatement notice should have been served on some person instead of the appellant, being— (i) the person responsible for the nuisance, or (ii) the person responsible for the vehicle, machinery or equipment, or (iii) in the case of a nuisance arising from any defect of a structural character, the owner of the premises, or (iv) in the case where the person responsible for the nuisance cannot be found or the nuisance has not yet occurred, the owner or occupier of the premises; Monitoring should be carried out in accordance with BS 4142. Regards Adrian Watson

Posted By Jeffrey Watt HB my EHO colleagues tell me the following. The World Health Organisation have guidance on nuisance noise based on a 50db LEQ per hour within the complainants property, so you need to be in their house to measure this and that is what the Noise EHO will do when following up a complaint. So you standing at the curtilage of your property is not what they hear in their house if you get my drift. The 50db LEQ per hour is not hard and fast. For instance you have a 120db whistle that goes off for 10 secs every hour 24/7 and virtually no other noise, you may be under 50dB per hour but that would still be construed as rather a nuisance if you live 20ft away from the whistle and the EHO would pursue this. That's a bit quick and dirty HB, I'm sure it is more complicated than that but it should get you started. It's the Pollution Order 1978 in Northern Ireland don't know your equivalent. Kind regards Jeff