Decision report 201004604

Summary
Miss C was unhappy about the noise she could hear from her next-door neighbour's kitchen. She complained to the council, who sent an officer to investigate. She then complained to us that the council had not properly investigated her concerns. She felt that the council official who investigated was not in the property long enough to establish the cause of the noise transmission. It is not for us to investigate the issue of the noise transmission itself but simply to see whether the council acted correctly in investigating the matter. When we investigated we found that the council officer had attended on a number of occasions but had never witnessed noise nuisance. They had provided advice on what Miss C should do in future if there was a problem. The council’s buildings standards section also investigated a further complaint from Miss C about unauthorised structural works to the property that she believed were affecting
noise levels, but found that no such work had taken place. We recognised that Miss C as an individual found the noise particularly distressing. However, we found that the council had properly carried out their duty to investigate the matters she had raised.