Noise Pollution

A considerable proportion of complaints made to the EH Department relate to noise pollution from industrial, commercial or domestic sources.

If you make a complaint about noise, you will be asked to monitor and keep logs of noisy events. An Environmental Health Officer will assess these logs and carry out further monitoring if necessary.

If noise amounting to a nuisance is found, the EHO will contact the person responsible and try to resolve the matter informally. If the informal method is not successful, the EH Department will serve a Notice under the Pollution Control and Local Government (NI) Order 1978 on the person causing the nuisance, or on the owner or occupier of the premises where the nuisance arises.

Noise is subjective and what causes annoyance to one person may be barely noticeable to another. Each case is judged on its own merits taking into account all relevant circumstances, and reference is made to legislation, Codes of Practice and case law before decisions on appropriate action are taken.

For dog owners, the Council offers a 'Barker Breaker' training device for use for a period of weeks for a £20 returnable deposit. This device humanely breaks the barking habit some dogs develop and which can be the cause of considerable annoyance to neighbours. Contact the Environmental Health Department for more information.

Further information on noise is contained in the leaflet Bothered by Noise