Agenda item

The Committee considered the possible review topics for their second review.

Members were provided with a briefing report on the Control and Enforcement of Noise Nuisance which contained information on the current arrangements for dealing with noise nuisance.

Control and Enforcement of Noise Nuisance

Ed Shaylor, ASB & Investigations Service Manager introduced the briefing report which provided a brief outline of the Council’s arrangements for the Control of Enforcement and Noise Nuisance. He highlighted the following points:

• There were three categories of noise/nuisance and were namely; commercial based, domestic and non-statutory
• Commercial noise such as licensed premises or construction sites were dealt with by the Environmental Protection Unit
• Noise arising from domestic premises were dealt with by the Anti-Social Behaviour Investigations Team (ASBIT)
• Noise nuisance which occurred during office hours on weekdays were responded to on an as needed basis by EPU and Calls relating to this issue would usually be reported via the Customer Contact Centre where staff would also try to established whether the reported noise nuisance was persistent
• There was a distinction between one off noise such as noise from parties (loud music), which may be investigated immediately
• The volume of calls tended to be higher (as shown in the graph in Annex A attached to the report) during the summer months, mainly relating to parities and loud music, than in the winter months were issues related mainly to dogs barking, domestic noise and shouting
• Many noise nuisance occurred in the evenings or at weekends and initial out of hours inspections of noise from commercial as well as domestic premises were carried out by ASBIT
• Two officers worked four evenings per week as follows:

-          Thursday 5pm to 2am (responding to calls from 8pm)

-          Friday and Saturday 6pm to 3am (responding to calls from 9pm)

-          Sunday 4pm to 1am (responding to calls from 7pm)

• Suggested consideration be given to the issues of meeting residents’ expectations of responding to one-off noise nuisance and managing the expectations were noise was persistent (including daytime noise nuisance).

During discussions the following points were raised:

• That although the Temporary law had changed (where the temp notice period had been reduced from …), the control of noise had not been weakened. Noise nuisance emanating at weeks, residents would first call the police before calling the Council to report. Need to be on-call arrangements. Ed
• Further clarification was needed regarding the change in the Law on TEMP Notices
• Although no out of hours routine coverage was in place for Bank Holidays, arrangements were usually put in place on  an ad hoc basis

Pest Infestation/Waste Management

Nigel Dicker, Deputy Director, Public Safety and Environment presented a verbal outline of the Councils arrangements for Pest Infestation/Waste Management as follows:

• Pest control and waste management were covered by different departments in the Council
• Recognised the need for the different units to work as a team to solve problems
• Suggested that the approach had been fragmented in dealing with issues relating to Commercial waste and issues relating to residents putting rubbish out at the wrong time for collection
• The issue of how waste was presented for collection needed to be explored, as residents would need to be made aware of how they contained waste and how best to present them for collection days

The committee raised the following points:

• Concern about issues relating to people living in social housing, particularly about confusion around who was responsible for dealing with pest control and issue of finance
• Something needed to be put in place to deal with recurring problems of pest infestation arising from commercial premises
• That there should be some ‘joined up thinking’ so that action could be taking against persistent occurrences after warning has been given

During discussion it was suggested that:

·        There needed to be a clear definition of what the Council classed as pests for residents to be aware of

·        Clarification of what the Council was responsible for dealing with and who was responsible for the cost

·        Establish whether there were Policies in place for dealing with rats and mice and see whether these needed to be reviewed

·        Consider the legislation relating to public health issues and environmental laws and explore the issue of enforcement

·        The content of the Council’s website should be reviewed to ensue clarity for residents.

Resolved

1)                 The Committee agreed to conduct their second review topic on Pest Infestation and Waste Management.

2)                 Officers were requested to provide a draft scoping report at the meeting on 22 January 2013

3)                 Relevant officers to attend the first witness session on 22 January 2013