Noise from club

zjoliveira

We have complained to our council about the noise coming from a pub/club every Friday and Saturday afternoon and evening. Although I appreciate it is before night hours, they noise and vibrations are such that I cannot be rested inside my own apartment with all windows shut (I struggle even more during the Summer when it's 30+ degree outside!). The council acknowledged my complaint (and others') but has done absolutely nothing about it and has since ignored all communication.
What can I do to hold the business accountable? Can I take them to a small claims court?

sevenhills

I heard noise from a pub tonight, from a pub that is around 100 yds away.
It was early in the evening and didn't last too long. I am not sure what the rules are. Look on your councils web site.
Noise from events is not uncommon. Some pub licences allow live music and some not. Find out what their license says.

user1977

Which department(s) of the council have you contacted? Environmental health, licensing, planning...? Several different possible angles.

jonnydeppiwish!

Was the pub/club there when you moved in? If so, why are you complaining about the normal noise from a pub/club?

Devongardener

Is the noise from music, or just people in a pub garden?  If it is loud music the council should be able to check if it complies with legal decibel regs.  If the music is loud enough to cause vibrations in your home, you have a good case to complain.   

GenieBoy

jonnydeppiwish! said:

Was the pub/club there when you moved in? If so, why are you complaining about the normal noise from a pub/club?

This happened in my town, a small new estate was built behind a large bar/food/b&b place and some of the residents of the new houses immediately behind the place started complaining about the noise. I don't know if anything ever came of it but if you don't like pub noise then don't buy a property next to a pub! 

MultiFuelBurner

You are always going to get the trolls that laugh and say why did you move there. They come out every post to almost laugh at anyone that posts and hide behind this being a blunt forum.

Hopefully the OP can put some meat on the bones for details and then people can be judgemental if they feel that will help.

For some real life context. We did view a property a couple of months back and saw that the garden was approx 300m as the crow flies to the local pub garden. Whilst the pub does look gastro rather than event driven who knows who might buy the pub in the future. It was certainly on our positive(food) and negative(future ownership) list.

As for the OP previously in another village one of the local pubs was event driven and they did have music during the day outside and they were effectively dealt with for dB levels by the local council.

So my advice would be to contact the local council and also get other neighbours to do the same if they are similarly affected.

Titus_Wadd

Ask your Environmental Health Dept. whether you can use The Noise App to log noise levels.  I use it to report a building site working outside prescribed hours.  It's an easy more effective way than keeping a written diary and it does measure the level of noise as well as recording a 30 second sample.  It allows for multiple recordings per day so we send a couple of clips taken close together on an hourly basis to illustrate the level and its continuing nature.

But, and it's a big but; our experience is that whatever is reported and how often; the council can still take a view that it's not in the overall public interest to issue enforcement beyond maybe a written warning.  The council will say to keep a written diary; but that alone won't result in enforcement; they will still need to take readings with noise equipment and sometimes there's no noise on the evening they come to your home to do it.  At least if they agree to you using the Noise App you can send multiple reports direct to the council when the noise is at it's worst as well as to illustrate its regular nature.

But (another but)...before you make a formal complaint explore moving elsewhere.  If you own your home, selling it with a declared noise nuisance complaint won't help the sale.

ETA: We've been logging and reporting breaches of planning conditions and anti-social behaviour for 3+ years; council action isn't a quick fix.

ManuelG

It depends why you move there though doesn't it. Three stand out for me, pub in relatives' village, somebody bought house that joins pub, complained about noise and tried to get it shut down - there was a reason said house was cheaper than any other in the village... Result? Pub moved dartboard onto adjoining wall.

Then elsewhere they built a new development next to a long established club. Neighbours complained about noise, club spent a fortune on noise insulation that bankrupted them - no club.

Or the wedding venue established for years that was in the country. One neighbour. They complained, venue was demolished and rebuilt with better sound deadening. Well, they got halfway and ran out of money. Now it's a haven for hobos and druggies, so nobody won.

No sympathy for any of them.

However, if social housing you may well have no choice where you move. And we don't tell people they should have known they were moving to a red light district when they moved in, do we?

None of which answers the OP's question however! Keep a record and report to environmental health. It might be worth an initial enquiry as to the terms of their license I suppose, but I doubt an entertainment venue before night hours would get much traction. The council doing nothing suggests they don't think it an issue, but you never know.

(Another small aside, when 30+ degrees outside don't open the windows! Keep them shut and close curtains)

TripleH

How long have you lived there and has the noise been like that since you have?

It's whether  this is a good weather noise generator (like a beer garden) and is quiet in winter or an all year issue.

On your own, I think you will have little impact but you need to get other residents on board. If there are other nearby residential properties, ask if they are bothered by the noise. Again 1 building of 30 complaiinants can be ignored easier than 30 building of 1 complainant (at least that's my logic) plus there may be an ongoing issue from another resident you can add weight to?

If you are renting it might be that you end up moving long before the issue is resolved sadly.

Titus_Wadd

Just to add...and it's not intended as a glib suggestion, but I sleep all the time with earplugs because I'm a very light sleeper.  I don't want to rid the area of magpie and seagull noise at the crack of dawn or night-time foxes and randy hedgehogs.  Earplugs improve my sleep immeasurably but I'd still be woken by the smoke alarm in an emergency.