Complaint causing a ding-dong at church
A single noise nuisance complaint has led to environmental health officers investigating the bells of Errol Parish Church.
Carse of Gowrie residents are upset by a threat to silence the bells of the kirk, after an anonymous Errol resident claimed the bells cause a disturbance on summer evenings.
Rev John Macgregor has asked his parishioners to show their support for the chimes and to back the status quo, for the bells continuing to be struck, day and night.
It has sparked a social media campaign and a petition signed by hundreds of locals, attempting to hold off any move to have them silenced during the evening.
The bells of Errol Parish Church have rung for centuries. These days the chimes are electronically controlled and council officers have told Rev Macgregor he should take the noise complaint “seriously”, and agree to switch the bells off at night.
“I have tried to argue that the bells Errol Parish Church have been ringing for decades without complaint,” the minister explained.
“They [the council officers] have said we must take the complaint seriously and stated the complainer wanted the bells switched off at night, in the summer, as they had their windows open and the bells disturbed them.”
While environmental health officers are looking into the matter, Perth and Kinross Council stressed it has yet to make a decision on whether action is needed.
Within hours of the minister asking for the Errol public to make their views on the matter known, more than 150 supporters had posted on the community’s social media pages.
This was followed by a letter writing campaign and a petition.
Creators of the online petition rallying to keep the hourly chimes said: “We believe the sound of the bells is an integral part of the atmosphere of the village, as worthy of conservation as any other aspect of this conservation area.”
The Save Errol Church Bells petition is at www.change.org