Pollution Control

The Safety, Health & Environment Team is responsible for these areas of environmental protection:

Noise
Odour
Air Quality
Contaminated Land

Noise

Complaints regarding industrial, commercial and domestic noise are investigated by the SHE Team. Where a noise nuisance is established, action under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 or the Control of Pollution Act 1974 can be used to mitigate the noise concerned.

Most noise complaints tend to be resolved informally and formal action is rare. Where a complaint is complex, detailed monitoring using specialised equipment may be necessary and the investigation can become time consuming.

Where a complaint is made in relation to noise, contact should be made within 24 hours and the officer concerned will be able to advise and assist with any queries or concerns raised. If it is possible that the investigation is likely to become lengthy, the officer shall also advise all parties concerned and maintain close contact, throughout the period of investigation.

Out of Hours Noise Team

If you have a complaint regarding anti-social, domestic noise for example if your neighbour is playing loud music or doing DIY late at night, you can contact the 'out-of-hours' noise team who operate from 8pm to 3am, Thursdays to Saturdays.

The team will respond to your complaint by visiting your house and measuring the noise levels. If the noise levels exceed the legal standards, a Fixed Penalty Notice of £100 may be issued if the person causing the disturbance fails to comply with requests by the team to keep the noise levels down.

The out-of-hours noise team can be contacted on 0845 277 7000.

Odour

Complaints about odour are regularly received by members of this Team. The source, duration and intensity of these odours tend to vary considerably and some investigations can become very involved.

Most issues are resolved informally and formal action under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 would only be considered in extreme circumstances. Invariably, odours are part of our everyday lives and what may be offensive to one individual may not be to others. Given that such subjectivity is at the heart of odour complaints, the officer concerned will take into account the source, duration and intensity of the problem together with your location before deciding what action is appropriate.

Any complaints should be acknowledged within 24 hours of receipt. The officer concerned is likely to need to visit the location affected in order to assess the nature of the problem. The results of any such investigation shall be detailed to the complainants on completion.

Air Quality

The Council has a duty to monitor local air quality. This duty is to ensure the various air standards specified in legislation are achieved. The monitoring is carried out for: -

Nitrogen Dioxide. This consists of monitoring tubes attached to lamp-posts throughout the Council's area.
Particulates. These are monitored using an electronic monitoring station, which is located in a trailer. Over the next few years monitoring will be carried out at various locations across the Council's area.

The data available to date indicates that the air quality standards, as specified in the legislation are being achieved, however monitoring is ongoing.

For more information you can visit our page entitled Local Air Quality Management and view or download our latest Local Air Quality Management Report.

Smoke Complaints

Smoke complaints can come from sources such as bonfires, chimneys and factories. Broadly, this Service will deal with complaints from domestic premises and the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency can deal with smoke from factories. They can be contacted on 01786 461 407.