During Noise Action Week 2015 (18th to 23rd May)– local authorities, housing providers, mediation services, community support teams and others work to raise awareness of noise. We are all affected by noise. The number of people bothered by neighbour noise increased 17% 2002 – 2012. Investigating noise complaints costs local councils £130 – £7k per complaint. It is always better and cheaper to prevent noise rather than cure a noise problem – which is why Noise Action Week is here to help raise awareness of ways to prevent noise. The event is promoted by Environmental Protection UK.
Here is a link to the Noise Action Week website.
Reported noise nuisance comes in a variety of forms, from the obvious, such as loud music or loud TVs to building work, shouting and screaming, stomping feet, banging doors, children, banging on walls, buzzing/vibration noises (from boilers/appliances) and even loud sex.
There may be underlying issues that our mediators will not be able to resolve, such as poor noise insulation, badly converted buildings or essential building work, but they can aid communication and help individuals build a strategy for the future. This might involve such things as deciding how to resolve issues in the months to come, how to be civil to each other and addressing misconceptions/untruths. In mediation the past is acknowledged but parties are encouraged to ‘draw a line in the sand’ and look to the future and think of how they would like things to be.
EP UK produce a leaflet on how to deal with neighbour noise.
Click on the image below to view.
There will always be noise in our lives, but much of it we can control, so as not to adversely affect others.
