Mrs A complained about noise emanating from a neighbouring heat pump. She complained about Newport City Council’s (“the Council”) decision not to treat the matter as a statutory noise nuisance. She also complained that the Council failed to follow relevant procedures for dealing with low frequency noise complaints.
The Ombudsman concluded that statutory nuisance could only be determined through the actions taken and investigations carried out by the Council. However, the Ombudsman took account of Mrs A’s concerns about the date/time that Council officers visited the property to monitor the noise, and the limitations of measuring low frequency sounds using the noise app. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without an investigation.
The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement that it would install noise monitoring equipment in November 2024 and the equipment would remain in situ for 10 days.