Summary: Mr C complains about the Council’s failure to take action about noise nuisance  from events at a community centre next to his home. Mr C says the noise is both a statutory noise nuisance and a breach of the lease agreement with the Council. Mr C also says the Council has not complied with the recommendations made by the Ombudsman in response to his previous complaint about the same issues.

Finding

The Ombudsman upheld the complaint and found fault causing injustice.

Recommendations

To remedy the injustice caused we recommend that within six months of the date  of this report, the Council:

• again seeks legal advice on the procedure to follow to monitor any breaches of the lease at the site, and the standard of evidence required to be satisfied if conditions have been breached and formal action under the lease is justified;
• undertakes unannounced planned visits to the community centre on five dates when scheduled events are taking place to assess whether any noise is in breach of the lease or is a statutory noise nuisance (if the Council is unable to identify five events during the next six months, it will ask us for a time extension);
• writes to Mr C after each visit to tell him the details of the visit and the result of the assessment; and
• writes to Mr C and us, after all five visits have taken place, a decision on whether there is evidence of a breach of the lease or a statutory noise nuisance, and any further action the Council intends to take.

We also recommend that within two months of the date of this report, the Council:

• pays Mr C a financial remedy of £500 in recognition of his distress and uncertainty as a result of the Council’s failure to comply with our previous recommendation and carry out the actions it had agreed; and
• pays Mr C an additional financial remedy of £100 in recognition of his time and trouble complaining to the Council and us about the same issues as his previous complaint.

 

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