Noise nuisance hits thousands
STUDENT AREAS WORST FOR COMPLAINTS Find out how your area fared:
Over 2,000 of us suffered from excessive noise in the last 12 months
FROM loud music to late night shouting, more than 2,000 noise complaints have been made by irate Newcastle residents in the past 12 months – with Jesmond responsible for almost a fifth of them.
Figures released by Newcastle City Council have revealed that 2,160 noise complaints were made to the authority between November 1, 2018 and October 31, 2019.
And the leafy suburb of Jesmond accounted for just less than a fifth of those, with 216 complaints in the electoral ward of North Jesmond, and 183 in South Jesmond.
As in all other wards, “neighbour noise” was by far the highest cause for concern (139 in North Jesmond, 114 in South Jesmond), with loud music prompting the second highest number of disgruntled calls (57 in North Jesmond, 46 in South Jesmond).
The ward with the next highest number of noise complaints was another suburb known for its student population – Heaton. The area had 127 in total, 90 of which were for neighbour noise, 12 were for loud music and seven were for alarms going off.
The East End wards of Ouseburn and Byker came in at fourth and fifth, with 106 and 104 respectively.
Barking dogs were another source of sleepless nights in many areas, prompting
North Jesmond .................................. 216 South Jesmond ................................. 183 Heaton .................................................. 127 Ouseburn ............................................ 106 Byker .................................................... 104 Elswick ................................................... 94 Monument ............................................ 84 Wingrove ............................................... 69 Arthur’s Hill .......................................... 68 Callerton and Throckley ................... 66 Denton and Westerhope .................. 66 Blakelaw ................................................ 65 Dene and South Gosforth ................ 65 Walkergate ........................................... 65
23 complaints in Walkergate, 20 in Denton and Westerhope and 16 in Castle.
In the city centre meanwhile, busking street noise led to 37 complaints over 12 months in the Monument ward.
A further 19 complaints were made about rackets from commercial premises, and 15 from construction noise.
DIY, roadworks and “drinking and rowdy groups” were among the other issues likely to lead to a complaint.
A spokesperson for Newcastle City Council said: “A large number of the noise complaints we receive relate to problems with noisy neighbours and in many cases our advice to the complainant is to speak to their neighbour, which can often resolve the issue.
“If this is not possible, or does not work, we will gather evidence to confirm if a nuisance exists.
“An informal letter will be sent to the alleged noise-maker requesting that the noise is stopped. We will also ask the person complaining about the noise to keep a noise diary, recording the dates, times and type of any noise nuisance. This helps us determine if we can take more formal action against the noise-maker.
“Formal action could include the serving of an abatement notice requiring the person responsible for the noise to stop making the noise or restrict any noise to certain times of day, seizure of the noise-making equipment, or ultimately legal action through a criminal prosecution.”
West Fenham ....................................... 64 Walker .................................................... 58 Fawdon and West Gosforth ............. 57 Lemington ............................................ 52 Benwell and Scotswood ................... 50 Castle ..................................................... 48 Kingston Park South and Newbiggin Hall .......................................................... 47 Manor Park ........................................... 44 Kenton .................................................... 41 Parklands .............................................. 34 Gosforth ................................................ 23 Chapel ..................................................... 14 Unclassified ......................................... 123