Jump to content
Melanie Jane

Help..Noise complaint from the council!

Recommended Posts

Hi.. I'm posting this on behalf of a good friend of mine who has just got home to a letter from the council detailing a complaint from one of her neighbours about her hens waking them up in the morning (she doesn't have a cockerel). Obviously, she is really upset about it.. the neighbour didn't even attempt to talk directly to her before complaining to the council.

Does anyone have any advice or info on how councils deal with such complaints? I've suggested she keeps them locked in and lets them out later in the morning..

But does it stress the hens to keep them locked in until say 7.30am? I've been doing the same and would like to know what other owners who live close by to non-chicken lovers do!

 

Mel

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If truth be known-the neighbour is possibly a 'Meldrew' type person and saw the chooks as something to complain about...even when there isnt any noise. :wink:

 

Counteract the complaint by saying he/she plays 'The Prodigys' Firestarter late at night.Would be especially amusing if they are a pensioner... :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can't help regarding council complaint advice. But I do keep mine locked in their eglu until 7.15/730am weekdays and same or roughly 8am on Sundays. They are absolutely fine.

 

I do it because last Summer twice mine were up at 4am bawking like mad at a duck that flew in the garden and then at a cat. So decided from then on to keep them locked up and it is fine. Only downside is having to pad around the garden at 7.15am in my dressing gown to open the eglu.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you were to speak to someone at the council they would most likely tell you that they have a duty to 'follow things up'

 

If you then can stay calm and explain that they are no louder than local dogs barking, car alarms going off, kids playing in the street etc. I suspect they would be a little apologetic and take it no further.

 

Good Luck :D

 

Helen

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think most councils are the same and if they get a complaint they have to take action and the first step is to notify the person being compained about, which is the letter your friend has got. They would also have written a similar letter to her neighbour outlining what steps can be taken and they will probably also have asked him to keep a diary over a period of several weeks listing dates and times and description of the noise that causes the nuisance, this is to help them assess if the noise is sufficient to be classed as a statutory nuisance and is often enough to put petty complainants off. If your friend's neighbour doesn't keep the diary then the council is unlikely to take any further action (hopefully they have got better things to spend your money on)

Shame he didn't speak directly to your friend about it first. Did the council give her the name of the person who complained?

 

I let mine out at 7:30 most mornings but it can stretch to 7:45 or even 8:00 at weekends if I'm feeling lazy. I used to let them out at 7:00 when I first got them but decided that was too early for me so moved it gradually by about 5 mins later every day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm going through this at the moment. The nasty man at the back of me complained and I too got a letter from the council. I rang them to explain they were not noisy and they told me not to worry. They have to send these forms out, he gets monitoring forms to and after a period (about one month) they will write again saying that no further action will be taken or that they are going to come round and witness the noise.

 

All my other neighbours were mad that this had happened and they have written to the council supporting me and the chooks, confirming that my chooks are not noisy, and that some of them didn't even realise I had chooks until I told them that someone had complained. Hopefully the council will read all these letters and realise it is only one sad person complaining - obviously got nothing better to do with his life.

 

I have videod the chooks activity, at various times during the day and you cannot hear my chooks at all, only the wild birds, cars, sirens, barking dogs etc. I've even got the complainants dog on video making a racket, far more noise than you would ever hear from a chook.

 

I'll keep you all informed when I know more - it's just a writing game at the moment.

 

Karen

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know from history, that Fareham have to act on every complaint, however they also seem quite good at forgetting to do anything after they chat to you, and have the same view of neighbours as we normal people do. Ours was a planning related issue over a climbing frame believe it or not.... our neibours though we should have planning permission.

 

we never saw the man from the council again, but he went away smiling. Hope they do the same with your issue chooks aloud!!!...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have lived in my house for 14 years and have never had a problem with neighbours. However I was very upset when I received a notice of complaint made about noise from the council last summer. This was before I had chickens, it was acomplaint about my teenagers playing their music loudly.

I think the council send the letter out as a matter of course. I heard nothing more from the council. I would not worry too much unless someone from the coucil actually knocks on your door. Often they will do a 'spot check' outside your house to see if they can detect any noise. they are unlikely to hear chickens in the middle of the day and unlikely to get up reaelly early to check your neighbours complaint!

Hope it all works out

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Councils have to react to every complaint they receive even if they know there is unlikely to be anything in it. Even sending out the initial letters and monitoring forms incurs a cost and if it gets as far as an EHO having to visit then that costs more, so if the complainant doesn't return the monitoring forms, they are not going to waste money following it up.

I wish these miserable old saddos with nothing better to do would realise that every time they get their kicks by phoning up the council, it is us, the taxpayers who have to pay for it in the end. :evil:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello all

My old next door neighbour complained to the council because he could see my washing line from his dining room window (I had raised my line to catch the breeze) I rang the council about the letter and the lady I spoke to was in fits of laughter :lol:

I just hung my sons "French connection(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)" t-shirt on the line every day for a week or so.

Never heard another word :shock:

My Fifi hollers to be let out every day but my new neighbours say they they really like the sound.

Tell your friend not to worry. Some people just like complaining!

Julie x

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Isn't it a sad world where the first we hear of people's "complaints" is via the Council - do people not talk anymore. You would think the first thing the "neighbour" (in quotations as obviously not neighbourly!) would do if he/she had a problem would be to come and have a "little discreet chat" in a nice way :lol:

 

The world has gone crazy. Obviously someone of the "Meldrew" type as already mentioned.

 

 

Can I ask - do people actually contact the Council before they get chickens as all the books seem to suggest - I haven't so far and didn't really want to - a friend in the area keeps them so assumed that the Council allowed it :) Chooks won't come for a few more weeks although run is underway (slowly) :cry:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Isn't it a sad world where the first we hear of people's "complaints" is via the Council - do people not talk anymore. You would think the first thing the "neighbour" (in quotations as obviously not neighbourly!) would do if he/she had a problem would be to come and have a "little discreet chat" in a nice way :lol:

 

Maybe in a world of road rage and ASBOs, they are worried about confronting someone directly? Especially if the complainant is old or otherwise vulnerable.

 

Can I ask - do people actually contact the Council before they get chickens as all the books seem to suggest - I haven't so far and didn't really want to - a friend in the area keeps them so assumed that the Council allowed it :) Chooks won't come for a few more weeks although run is underway (slowly) :cry:

 

Nope, never occurred to me. We live on the very very edge of the suburbs of Cambridge - from our bedroom window we can see cornfields less than 100 yards away and hear the farmer's birdscarer quite clearly! Practically the countryside, really (though not rural enough for cockerels!)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I contacted the council before I got ours and was told that they expect a certain amount of noise and mess from any animals so not to worry too much. They would only really be concerned if I had a cockerel or if a vermin problem was traced back to my property.

 

They have to respond to complaints but I imagine very few get followed up beyond a letter to both parties

Link to comment
Share on other sites

ive not had to deal with it yet but i do worry, that one day ill get that, my neighbour next door aint bothered when i see her i do ask if they bothering her, its the other side that worries me she is a old biddy and has her daughter back home and complains about everything and anything, wow if she starts her dog barking will be brought def up, it barks as soon as one foot out door till it goes bk in and its a german shepherd

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All this has me worried now! We have 3 horses and are lucky enough to rent the fields around our house for them from someone that owns the house down the road (that is rented out to someone else). Our next door neighbour complained to the owner about our horses INSTEAD of coming to us with the problem. When next door (we are detached) moved in they turned a workshop into an art gallery and massage place. They do classes on how to live your life properly etc. They sent an email to the owner complaining and was laughed off as the owner thinks we live next door to a brothel!!! :lol: He bascially tried to get us into trouble and have the horses moved. He apologised to us and blamed his mother dying for his actions. This has made me worry he will complain about the chickens when they arrive now too. Needless to say, I am done with them next door even after the apology. There was no need for it. Clare x

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sounds like you have a perv next door. What is wrong with horses in fields? Perhaps you should add a few sheep to baa them to death! Failing that invite some friends with caravans to camp out for the weekend!! :twisted:

Fields = countryside. Countryside = variety of animals, don't worry about the chickens.

I did call the council years ago, and got the same result as ajm.

One of my neighbours asked me if I had told my immediate neighbours of my chickens and I told her that they didn't consult me when they got their pets (one side has two cats, the other a dog) and all those animals have been in our garden, the dog squared up to me until I ran yelling at it, and the cats constantly fight and knock down the dry stone walls - not to mention spraying and pooping. The people with cats are hardly ever at home, and the other side broke a covenant by having a caravan in their garden, and ripped out a fence and replaced it with a leylandii hedge (slow growing version? My bottom it is) which we now have to chop back. They also allow the dog to run around everybody's front gardens - not nice when it attacked the postie and she had to have stitches and the dog still isn't muzzled. Other neighbours have altered their house frontages which is also not allowed. Apparently we are not allowed to keep livestock - well my chickens are pets, and they will not be great egg producers. I think we'll be fine as long as they don't make too much noise. Coming in this morning there was a sparrow by the front door, cheeping like crazy - deafening! Not to mention the jackdaws, doves, pigeons and the crow - anyone heard a wren - amazingly loud for such a little birdy!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




×
×
  • Create New...