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Are you affected by noise?

The Council will investigate complaints about noise nuisance. Complaints about Council and Housing Association tenants will initially be referred to the appropriate landlord.

Please report your complaint of noise with this form.

It is also important to note that there some matters we are unable to help with.

We are unable to help with some types of noise

We are unable to assist with complaints about noise caused by the following:

  • poor sound insulation
  • people in the street (including rowdy behaviour outside - which may be a Police matter)
  • building sites operating within reasonable times (generally 08.00 to 18.00)
  • normal farming activities
  • children playing, for example, in a garden, public space or park
  • speech (talking and shouting) unless unreasonably loud or at unreasonable times
  • day-to-day domestic noise (for example, lawn mowing, hedge trimming, washing machines, vacuuming)
  • traffic noise(including essential roadworks and maintenance) - see noise from roads on GOV.UK or contact Devon County Council (The Local Highways Authority)
  • railway noise(including essential maintenance) - also see Railway noise on GOV.UK
  • aircraft noise

How complaints are assessed

You will be asked to use the Noise App to record the noise that is affecting you. If you are unable to use the Noise App, we will accept diary sheets recording the noise affecting you. The investigating officer will assess your recordings and make a decision if further investigation is appropriate. At this point, we will contact the person responsible for the noise and inform them of the complaint. If the noise nuisance continues, we may install sound monitoring equipment in your property to gather further evidence. If we are satisfied that the noise constitutes a statutory nuisance we will serve an abatement notice.

We will keep all parties updated during the investigation and endeavour to resolve matters as soon as possible.