Machinery Noise

[yerbamate]

A neighbour has a very big shed in his garden, and uses it nearly every day as a workshop, lathes and woodworking by the sound of it. It is very noisy at times, especially on the rare sunny day when out in my garden. He is retired, so has lots of time to kill. I have spoken to him previously, but he is very aggressive. Any suggestions please?

[boxtops]

Have you any other neighbours also affected?

[Khandro]

Who was there first - was he already making the noise when you moved in?
and do you think he is running a business?

[yerbamate]

I was here first, he moved in with the widow and subsequently married her. The shed appeared around 18 months ago, and is 12 foot long and 6 foot wide.

[Khandro]

That gives you the edge. Are you within a residential area and do you think he is running a business?

[VHG]

Keep a record / diary of when the noise happens - length of time, volume etc.

Get some other neighbours involved as the more people who complain the better for you.

Finally phone the council and ask them to come round and measure the volume in decibels as it may be too loud.

[FredPuli43]

The Council seems a good place to start, given the evidence of you and neighbours.

Sometimes the French are more sensible than we are. They have a absolute ban on any machinery, even lawn mowers, being used on Sundays, and restrictions on their use at other hours in the week.

[cassa333]

Ear plugs work a treat :)

The council noise people should be able to help :)

[RATTER15]

Khandro, the "who was there first" thing does not hold water I'm afraid. It is purely down to acceptable noise levels, not who was there first.

[ojread2]

Being there first gives a neighbour the edge, Khandro?

What nonsense. So what you're saying is, if the yerbamate was the noisy party it would be perfectly acceptable to make the same noise because he was there first?

Poppycock and I can vouch for that. Got my local HA involved when a noisy neighbour who had been there a number of years before me, would rev car engines at 4 am and 10.30 pm and generally behaving in a selfish way

I won - thank you

[FredPuli43]

Not strictly true that "who was there first" matters. The old leading case on nuisance was about a doctor who came to a house that was next to a workshop. The workshop was a nuisance through noise and vibration. The owners pleaded that the doctor had come to or built (I can't remember which) his house in full knowledge of the workshop and its nuisance; he had come to the nuisance and so could not complain.Held: that was immaterial and judgment would be entered for the plaintiff.

[RATTER15]

FredPuli43, the case I had in mind was that of a guy that bought an old gamekeepers cottage next to pheasant rearing pens that had been there fo over 50 years, he complained that the pheasants were making too much noise, the pheasant rearing business had to close down, he won. It was based solely on the unacceptable noise level, regardless of the business having been there previous to him moving next door.

[FredPuli43]

Exactly so, Ratter. It's a myth that a pre-existing nuisance or potential nuisance can't be complained about because you have moved to it, and it wouldn't be a nuisance to anyone if you weren't there.

[FredPuli43]

By the way, I have long thought the doctor's case was wrongly decided, but we can't argue with such a long established precedent. (Unless we are the same as Lord Denning, but he always tried to find a way around it, rather than say it was wrong outright)

[Khandro]

Ratter et al //"who was there first" thing does not hold water I'm afraid. It is purely down to acceptable noise levels, not who was there first.//
I didn't say it gave the right in law, I said 'it gives you the edge'. If someone build a house next to an established noise-making factory and then complains to the local council about the noise, their case will not be looked on with much sympathy. I know this as a fact, having once been the 'noise-maker'.

[paddywak]

Years ago before I moved down here we had a similar problem with a guy who was running a little business selling bundles of fire wood who would start up a circular saw cutting his wood very early in the morning. It lasted until his next door neighbour told him the next time he was on nights and he was woken up by the saw it wouldn't be wood that was getting cut.

[RATTER15]

Khandro //I know this as a fact, having once been the 'noise-maker'//

One must chant more quietly!!

[TheBaBas]

Your irritation is, of course, subjective - the noise being made may be acceptable to others and it may only irritate you.

The reason I mention this is because one of my neighbours absolutely loses the plot when I mow my lawn. I have a large garden and therefore have to use a petrol mower, and when I mow my lawn, which is always on a Saturday afternoon, she always hollers over the fence, whereas my other neighbour doesn't mind at all.

Mowing the lawn on a Saturday afternoon is completely acceptable practice and therefore the mad bitch may be a bit soft in the head, but the point I am (rather clumsily) trying to make is that the noise 'may' be within perfectly acceptable levels, but it just happens to annoy you.

[atalanta]

Something similar happened to me some years ago. The neighbours in question seemed to be doing car repairs. The noise was terrible and the parking was manic.
My solution : I wrote to the tax department of the local council asking for a reduction in council tax on the grounds that I was no longer living in a residential area, but an industrial area. The Council was round like a shot, and very soon the nuisance was much reduced.