Noise Action weeks falls 23rd to 28th May this year. Every year Noise Action Week raises awareness of the problems too much noise causes in our communities. Noise in the wrong place and at the wrong time disturbs our peace, wakes us up and can affect our health and well being.
Noise nuisance is the No.1 topic of referral to our Community Mediation service. That has remained so since our inception.
In the last year, West Sussex Mediation Service received 53 referrals concerning neighbour noise nuisance – everything from barking dogs, cockerels crowing, children shouting/screaming, to loud music. Such disputes often lead to ‘tit for tat’ retaliations with people resorting to banging on walls and ceilings or deliberately turning up the TV or stereo.
During Noise Action Week we hope to raise our profile as we offer a way of finding lasting resolutions to neighbour niggles, not just those noise related.
Local councils receive more complaints about noise every year than anything else. The most recently published government research showed:
- the number of people bothered by neighbour noise rose by 17% 2002 – 2012
- nearly half the people surveyed said their home life is spoilt by noise to some extent
- one in five reported their sleep is disturbed by noise.
It’s estimated that investigating noise complaints cost councils between £130 and £7,000 per complaint. Housing providers, mediation services and the police are all frequently involved in resolving noise disputes – so this represents a huge amount of time and money. Preventing noise problems is much cheaper than curing them and better for everyone.
Call us if you need some advice about a noise issue.