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Firth Rixson Forgings Industrial DE4 watch

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Member #28

The company uses a heavy press which causes not only noise but vibration through homes opposite.
It was installed 10 years ago and complaints were made to the council with nothing done. Since the company has been sold off to private equity the hours that the press works have been extended and in the last few weeks it goes on till 11.30pm some nights, often starting at 6am. Saturday working is becoming more frequent and also Sundays.
What is most annoying is that during the day it is quieter with all the heaviest pressing being done after 5pm and before 9am.
The council will not do any ground bourne monitoring and in fact very little monitoring is carried out as strangely enough when the council does come out the noise seems to stop.
As a small group of people we feel quite helpless in the face of a large company.
Our homes have probably become un-sellable but all we really want are restricted hours of use say 7.30am to 6pm and 8-1.30 Saturdays and no Sundays but what we are actually getting is longer and longer hours of use.

Added: 2008/02/19 15:01:31

View previous discussion (2 posts)

Member #30

I would suggest that you speak to your neighbours to ascertain the number of you affected by the noise. A meeting should then be arranged with an Environmental Health Officer at your Council to agree a way forward. At all times you should co operate with the investigating officer providing any information required, including nuisance diaries or allowing the installation of noise monitoring equipment.
If this fails to resolve your problem you may wish to invoke the Council's formal complaint procedure, contact your local councillor, or the Local Government Ombudsman for their assistance.
Additionally legal remedy is available under Section 82 Environmental Protection Act 1990 for individuals affected by noise nuisance. Before embarking on this route I would suggest seeking legal advice from Citizens Advice or a solicitor.
Hope this helps.

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2008/02/29 14:53:43

Member #3

The Council have a statutory duty to investigate your complaint but if they fail to act it is very hard to force them. Also if they find it is a statutory nuisance they will be obliged to act.

The level of vibrations that are acceptable are very low indeed and what you describe sounds like a clear legal nuisance. It does need checking by an expert and measuring but what you describe appears intolerable.

If the vibrations have increased into the late evening there will be no defence that they have done all they reasonably can as they have increased impact. That is not counteracting the nuisance.

You can waste a lot of energy trying to get a reluctant council to act.

I would check to see if your household insurance provides legal cover. If it does then you can take legal action for nuisance using your insurance, provided the increased vibrations occured after you had the insurance in place. If several residents have insurance it will make a claim much easier to pursue.

Do not contact them at this stage. Seek the advice of a lawyer who specialises in environmental issues and who will advise how to proceed, hopefully with an initial consultation for free. You need an independent expert to run some vibration measurements and given an opinion fisrt. There is a British Standard and if the levels are exceeded you will probably have a good case.

If you do not have insurance you can still get help with after the event insurance. I suggest you do a google search for "environmental solicitor" and contact one of them to see if they will give a free consultation.

Good luck and do let us know how you get on. We can offer more help if need be.

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2008/03/14 00:35:22

Member #44

I am a new member with bbig noise problems of our own - a 24/7 logistics operation shipping booze in and out on 44 ton lorries, only 50 metres from our and other houses. We haven't had an interrupted nights sleep for 9 months. Our local council has tried to evade dealing with the issue by saying that the company will claim best operating practice and they will not succeed in court.However, we are not prepared to leave it at that, as our houses are virtually unsaleable now. We have contacted a charitable organisation known as the Environmental Law Foundation (ELF) who will take details of the problem and refer you free of charge to an environmental lawyer. He/she then looks at the case and advises you about posssible action (still free of charge).If anyone is interested in approaching this organisation for assistance, I can supply the contact details. They were most helpful to us and the lawyer they found for us was also.

best wishes

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2008/07/13 16:41:37

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Complaints (1) Add Complaint

Member #47

This nuisance is still ongoing despite continued efforts of the local residents, including the formation of a local residents action group.

Monitoring has been carried out recently but we do not hold our breathe - it has all been done before.

Other members have already referred to this problem but seem content to accept a limited time working practice. This is not the policy adopted by the Action Group. Our position is quite simple. We require a cessation of the nusance at all times. It is appears that there are problems with the original installation of the offending press that have led to the nuisance and it is high time this was sorted.

Added: 2008/08/05 20:41:54

View previous discussion (2 posts)

Admin1

Entry has been merged with existing Nuisance.

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2008/08/08 12:08:28

Member #50

what a load of tosh firth rixsons are very considerate towards keeping the peace with their local residents and always work to strict schedules to avoid making disturbances at sensitive hours,all large forging is during daytime to minimise noise/virabration in the evenings small parts are produced at either end of working day.i feel compelled to write this in defence of firth rixsons because i cannot abide such inaccurate and misleading lies from a small minority of nimbys who have only resided in darley for not so many years the factory has been there for over fifty years plus.when the new residents bought their houses they should have done their homework and read the big sign on the front that says FORGE !perhaps that would make most people think twice.......

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2008/10/01 16:36:50

Member #47

Sadly this has been reduced to a name calling excercise. The fact of the matter is that a particular machine is creating an unacceptable nuisance during some of it's operation both during 'normal working hours' and unsociable hours. It has been said that works are scheduled so that only light work is carried out at either end of the day and that complainants are lying nimbys. The problem has been monitored from 6.10am right through until 11.25 pm on some days. If that is seriously considered to be reasonable then I dread to think what is unreasonable. It has also been said that the factory has been there for fifty years. So what! Most of the houses affected by this nuisance are almost 100 years old and the Action Group represents well over 50% of the residents directly affected by the nuisance. At no time have the members of the Action Group sought for more than the remedying of one particular problem. Recent scientific monitoring has vindicated the complaints as being reasonable and the local council have served an Abatement notice. More encouragingly the Company have joined in dialogue with the Action Group to discuss the future of the plant and it's neighbours.

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2008/10/03 16:44:46

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For Your Information

Is it a Nuisance?

In the UK, there are no legally acceptable sound levels and a nuisance is assessed both in sound level and by the impact on those affected. Based on certain British Standards (BS) and Case Law (previous cases that set precedence) it is common to compare the sound level of the noise with the level in absence of the noise, also known as the "Background" level. This can be done by an Environmental Health Expert or Acoustician.

Whether the noise is a statutory nuisance (a nuisance deemed as unlawful) is often decided by the Environmental Health Officers of your local council.

Contact the council

Speak to the Environmental Health department of your local council.

Find the local council for this postcode

Take private action?

You are free to take your own action against a person causing an alleged nuisance under section 82 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. You should seek legal advice if you intend to do this and it is important to bear in mind that taking legal action can be expensive. You may have a lot of costs to pay if you are unsuccessful.

Search on Google for "noise law solicitors"

Keep a diary

A log of activity can become a useful piece of evidence. The more detail, the better, but even if you only manage to keep basic records they may become useful later.

The Environmental Health Officers will be looking at:

  • the time of the day or night
  • the duration and recurrence of the noise
  • the character of the noise
  • if the source of the noise is providing a public service

    • Relevant Case law

    It may be worthwhile checking out what the past decisions were on similar cases to yours as these set a precedence in law.

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