Can somebody who speaks legalese lend me a moment of their time please...

[BlackDwarf]

The only one issue was that i could hear them ******* at night when i was trying to sleep , they seem to have stopped that now....

Did they get married? That would probably explain it

[Hicks12]

haha no they didnt but i think his new bike is now his babe !.

[Saracen]

Moby, I've got something similar, plus the fact I can plug my guitar and bass into my PC and use my headphones, but sometimes you just want/need the response a real amp gives you.

Santa, this guy isn't suffering, and Knox isn't being at all unreasonable with the noise he is creating. He's not doing it at unsocial times, nor for long periods of time. This guy obviously just wants a moan, and wants to enforce his rules and regulations at anyone that he feels he can.

If you think some pathetic old bastard getting annoyed by an electric guitar is 'suffering', then what about all the other atrocities in the world eh?

When it comes down to it, you can do what you damn well like during the working day, don't take the piss, and you can never go wrong.

Without knowing what the noise levels are, how can we know whether he's "suffering" or not? And just because other sufferings in the world are far worse doesn't mean that lesser sufferings get ignored.

As for "you damn well like during the working day", well, no. There's a whole host of laws controlling what you can and can't do, even in your own home and during the day, where they affect others. Those powers cover smoke, smells, fumes and gases, dust, steam, the keeping of animals and so on .... and noise. It might be fairly rare for them to be used, and they only tend to be in extreme and persistent cases, but the provisions are there.

I'm not saying that the level of noise Knox is creating would be such as to come under those provisions, if for no other reason than we don't know what levels of noise they are. But the possibility exists. The main provisions of this are in the Environmental Protection Act 1990, but there's other powers and amendments, and definitions (including decibel limits and definitions of acceptable measuring devices, calibration and verification procedures) in several other acts and SIs.

Even during the day, if noise is sufficient to be "prejudicial to health or a nuisance" then action can be taken. So one question is how loud it needs to be to be a "nuisance"?

And what can happen? Well, first the council investigates. That appears to be the stage Knox is at, at it seems to be an informal first step, at this point. It may well be that it never goes beyond that. But, if the council conclude there's a case to answer, then it will take readings (with approved, calibrated meters) under the required circumstances, and it can then issue fixed penalty fines, or abatement orders. If abatement orders are ignored, it can lead to further actions, court cases, convictions, seizure of equipment and ASBO's. Of course, going that far is rare, and it pretty much requires a recidivist attitude from people that won't heed anything from requests to less serious formal actions, and I'm sure Knox is nowhere near that big a plonker, so the extreme end of this isn't going to happen. But a fixed penalty fine .... it's possible, if this isn't sorted out amicably and the situation persists.

I'm not saying the council will take action, and it's certainly harder during daytime ... or rather, not during night time which is defined as 11PM to 7AM, because there are specific and much tougher provisions for night noise .... but it's possible, in extreme cases, even during the working day.

[jim]

Again, I'm afraid that I don't understand any of the legal implications, but I have, by chance, seen the odd program following council noise pollution officers - or whatever they're called.

Now, I admit it's hardly the best source of information, but in each instance the officer in question had an idea of what was going on - sometimes it was the same person complaining yet again (this guy might perhaps have a reputation for making complaints, in which case they'll have their doubts). Nonetheless, the standard procedure tended to be that they would go into the room where the noise was coming from, then ask the person to start up whatever sound was causing the problem. Then they would typically go a fair distance away, often into the other person's house and then just subjectively analyse the noise - see how bad it seemed. Then, if it was bad, they would ask the person to come up with a solution, perhaps turn the sound down 10 notches, then try again and see what it's like. If both parties were then satisfied, the officer would leave and that would be that, on the assumption that the sound level would not go above that level.

Whatever the situation, they certainly didn't come in with fines and documentation at the ready, baying for blood. I think they're just as aware as everybody else is that it's a very subjective issue, and so the only way you could get into serious bother over it would be if you started lying, or agreed to play more quietly and then ramped it straight back up to normal volume as soon as the council left. In those circumstances, I imagine they'd probably start trying to nail you more covertly and get you into bother. However, I can't believe that you'd do either of those things so I'm sure you'll be fine.

[Sputnik]

TBH, I can see both sides of the argument but, If he is exactly as you say then I know where your at.

We used to have neighbours like that - He complained about me cutting the grass with an electric lawnmower midday Sunday, While he was sat in the back garden tipping lager down his throat but, when he wanted to play records all night that was fine!

His obviously sad to complain about someone hoovering at 8pm, I'm just wondering how flimsy the construction of your house is if they can hear soo much.

[SiM]

If you are keeping the volume down at a level you can talk over, then that is fair.

There must be something wrong with your walls though... the sound shouldn't be penetrating a proper wall between terraces... you need to get that checked out

[this_is_gav]

If you are keeping the volume down at a level you can talk over, then that is fair.

A level you can talk over in the neighbours house? You think that's fair? I'd be around with a sledgehammer if that was frequent!

[SiM]

A level you can talk over in the neighbours house? You think that's fair? I'd be around with a sledgehammer if that was frequent!

I think he meant talk over in the same room.

[Knoxville]

Thanks for all your responses guys

I think he meant talk over in the same room.

Precisely.

We got in touch with the coucil today and explained everything, they won't say much about the details of the complaint and the neighbours in question are conveniently on holiday so we can't find out anything more really at this stage. The next step for the council is to get back in touch with them and let them know our side of it and see if an amicable agreement can be made in the presence of a mediator, I'll do my best to keep this thread up to date as things unfold.

[Flibb]

On holiday??

Play on......................

[santa claus]

Thanks for all your responses guys

.......and see if an amicable agreement can be made in the presence of a mediator.

Well done Knox for not ramping up the sound to show your neighbour that you are a rebellious, rock mofo and that messing with you deserves execution

I'm sure you can work out a mutually acceptable solution - it'll be much better than an argument.

[mmh]

Well done Knox for not ramping up the sound to show your neighbour that you are a rebellious, rock mofo and that messing with you deserves execution

sounds fun though doesnt it

The neighbour is nuts to be fair...

I dunno if many of you have seen knox in real life... but he's pretty big built with tattoos, piercings a shaved head... he looks pretty mean... and the neighbour came banging on the door whilst me and him were getting together and having a bit of a writing session and just started calling knox mental and not really stating his issue just hurling abuse... we kinda gathered the noise was the issue but he never once stated it... Luckily knox is a decent human being because if the neighbour had done that to most people who look like knox he woulda got the crap kicked out of him!

As saracen said, it seems like this guy was just letting it build up and build up until he reached breaking point... when what he should have done was when the noise got a bit much, come round and said something.

The noise wasnt excruciatingly loud either... granted it was louder than when knox is just playing for 30 mins in his bedroom, but it wasnt cranked to 11!

[santa claus]

The noise wasnt excruciatingly loud either... granted it was louder than when knox is just playing for 30 mins in his bedroom, but it wasnt cranked to 11!

Ever heard of water torture? Water dripping on your forehead. It's nothing at first then slowly each drop begins to feel like a sledgehammer.

You guys need to work this out amicably; you don't seem the sort who takes pleasure in upsetting someone. Life's too short.