Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about noise nuisance. This is because there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council has failed to take appropriate action to reduce noise nuisance from Council-owned sports pitches near his home. He says this affects his enjoyment of his home and caused him distress. He wants the Council to either take further action to mitigate the noise nuisance or reduce the hours the pitches are in use.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

Section 82 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990

3. A member of the public can take private action against an alleged nuisance in the magistrates’ court. If the court is persuaded they are suffering a statutory nuisance, it can order the person or people responsible to take action to stop or limit it.
4. This process does not involve the council, but it is good practice for councils to draw a complainant’s attention to their right to private action under section 82.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

What happened

7. Mr X complained about noise nuisance from sports pitches near his home. The pitches are owned and maintained by the Council.
8. The Council responded to his complaint in September 2021. Mr X was unhappy with the response and asked the Council to escalate the complaint to stage two. The letter informed him of his right to take private action under section 82 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
9. An officer visited Mr X’s property in February 2022 to re-assess the noise nuisance. The officer told Mr X again of his right to take private action under section 82. The officer told Mr X they would liaise with the school to try and resolve the matter.
10. Mr X continued to liaise with the Council throughout 2022 to try and resolve the matter. He also chased the Council for a stage two complaint response. The Council sent Mr X a final response in April 2023. The response set out what actions the Council and the school had taken to mitigate the noise disturbance. It said its powers to do more were limited, as firstly it did not consider the noise disturbance amounted to a statutory nuisance, and secondly, even if it did, it could not serve an abatement notice against itself. It advised him again that if he was unhappy with the Council’s actions, it was open to him to start private court proceedings.

My findings

11. The complaint is about noise nuisance from a Council-owned premises. The Council has acted as it considers appropriate to try and improve the situation, but Mr X remains dissatisfied. A Council cannot take enforcement action against itself and we also cannot order a Council to take a specific action. The most appropriate route is for this case to be considered by a court. If persuaded by Mr X’s arguments, the courts have the power to order the Council to act and so are better placed to consider this complaint. Council officers appropriately advised Mr X of his right to take private court action in September 2021, February 2022 and in the final complaint response in April 2023.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the courts are better placed to consider this complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman