Noise pollution - Domestic

The Public Protection Division

The Public Protection Division of Walsall Council provide a service for the investigation of noise complaints.

The officers are available during the day Monday to Friday from 9am until 5pm.

You can speak to an officer to report an incident by calling 01922 652223.

The officers aim to respond to all reports of noise within three working days.

If a noise is happening at the time of your call please advise the officer and every effort will be made to visit and witness the noise as it occurs.

As well as the daytime service officers also provide a response to complaints of noise at night.

The hours when an officer is available to respond to a complaint at night are:

Friday - 7pm until 3am
Saturday - 7pm until 4am
Sunday - 7.30pm until 2am

When officers are not on duty you can still make a report of noise nuisance to the council by calling 01922 650000, this call will be logged and passed to the Public Health Team at the next available opportunity.

It should be noted that in order to properly investigate your complaint the officer will have to enter your property and witness the noise as you would hear it.

If this poses any difficulty please advise the officer before they visit.

For health and safety reasons it may not always be possible for an officer to confront the person causing the noise immediately and an official approach or warning may be made the next working day when it is considered safe to do so.

Log sheets

In order for officers to gauge the extent of a problem it is useful for a noise diary to be kept for 2 – 3 weeks.
This diary or noise complaint record form (PDF 82KB) must be completed in full. Please ensure you advise us of who you are and what or who is the source of the noise. Please return these documents to this office via the methods and contact details mentioned below.

Recording devices

In certain circumstances Officers may choose to install a digital audio tape recording device to record the type of noise that you are experiencing – these recordings will not be used as legal evidence and only provide an indication of the problems you may suffer at times when it is not possible for the officers to visit themselves. Any cases taken to court by Walsall Council will almost certainly rely on first hand evidence of the officers employed to deal with noise complaints.

Mediation

As the outcome of the officers investigations can sometimes lead to legal action and court appearances you may wish to consider in the first instance using the Walsall Mediation Service to overcome these problems. Often neighbours do not realise the disturbance they are causing and if approached in an amicable way will try to resolve the problem before it gets out of hand.

The Walsall Mediation Service can be contacted by calling 01922 637713 or visit www.mediationuk.org.uk/

Rented accommodation

If you or the person causing the noise nuisance are a tenant of Walsall Housing Group or any of the local housing associations you should report all incidents of antisocial behaviour, noise or other such matters to your local neighbourhood office so that the tenant can be contacted and advised of their responsibilities under their tenancy agreement.

Visit www.whg.uk.com

Serious disturbances

Where parties, events or even small domestic situations become violent or out of control or if you believe drugs and/or weapons may be involved you should consider calling West Midlands Police and reporting the incident.

Should the police require a council officer to attend (or vice versa) they should arrange this through the council call centre.

The West Midlands Police can be contacted on 0845 113 5000 or 999 (in an emergency) or visit www.west-midlands.police.uk

Useful links

Useful information regarding noise, anti social behaviour and citizens advice:

Contact us

Public Health Team
Walsall Council
The Challenge Building
Hatherton Road
Walsall
WS1 1YG

Telephone 01922 652223
Fax 01922 630697
Email publichealthteam@walsall.gov.uk