Pre District Court Letter To Noisey Neighbour

vixdname · 13-04-2016 4:45pm #1

Hi all, I may be in the position whereby I may have to take a local farmer to the district court due to him running extremely loud musical events that go on all night long over a 2 night period.

Ive read up quite a bit about how to go about this issue and am waiting to see from the local authority if he is in breach of his planning permissions by holding these events in a large building he erected a few years back.
If that doesnt come to anything I will be forced to take him to the District Court.

I have read that its wise to send the neighbour a letter outlining the issues we are experiencing etc but I would like to know how much detail should I put in this letter as this will probably be read by the judge and it would be an opportunity to get a lot of information to the judge regarding the history of the issue at hand.

Also, would it be preferable to ask the neighbour to correspond to me via letter as well for records purposes or is it ok to speak to him verbally as I know this character would be unsavoury in this type of situation.

Any info much appreciated.

Pat Mustard · 13-04-2016 5:15pm

Rather than entering into litigation yourself and apart from your contact with the planning section of the local authority, you may be able to ask the environmental section of the local authority to investigate a noise complaint.

Also, you could contact the Environmental Protection Agency in relation to noise complaints.

vixdname · 13-04-2016 6:43pm

Pat Mustard wrote: »

Rather than entering into litigation yourself and apart from your contact with the planning section of the local authority, you may be able to ask the environmental section of the local authority to investigate a noise complaint.

Also, you could contact the Environmental Protection Agency in relation to noise complaints.

Hi threre, Im currently in discussions with the local authority about this.
The planning side of it is only one of a few directions Im looking at coming at this issue from.
I will be trying to arrange a face to face meeting about this issue with them so as a proper coordinated approach can be taken and I know where I stand on all fronts

I will of course contact the EPA if the local authority cant do anything and going down the court route will be a last resort for me.

Now...can anyone advise what best way to approche the letter of complaint would be in reference to my original post ?

Thanks again Patmustard !

Fred Swanson · 13-04-2016 6:54pm

This post has been deleted.

vixdname · 13-04-2016 7:14pm

Fred Swanson wrote: »

Have a solicitor draft any letter you wish to send. It will be worth it in the long run.

Thats a great idea.
Ive never had the need to use a solicitor before.
Do they charge for a meeting with them to discuss my issue and how best to word the letter or in that case would I just have to pay for the letter.
How much would it cost for such a letter ?

Sorry for all the questions but as I said Ive never had a single dealing with a solicitor before.

Thank a million

vixdname · 15-04-2016 2:58pm

Ok heres the deal.

Farmer behind my house and other houses has since last summer decided to hold all night music events.
When I say music, its rave music.
It started at 16:15 Friday evening and finished at 08:30am Saturday morning, this was repeated again Saturday night until Sunday morning.
The noise is so loud, people a number of kilometres away were annoyed at the noise so suffice to say our walls were shaking.
He tries to get away with these by saying theyre “Charity” events and the organisers take “Donations” online.

Now, I spoke to the local authority and they can do sweet nothing because legally 5 charity events can be held in a 12 month period without it contravening his planning permissions and the local authority haven’t the equipment to measure the sound coming from these events themselves.
They have advised me to talk to the EPA which I will be doing on Monday.

Has anyone any experience dealing with the EPA, do any of ye think they may be able to do anything in yere experience ?

I can also go down the district court route under a section 108 and if so do ye think the judge would have to consider both my and the a number of other neighbours seriously or will the mention of charity again go against us do ye think ?
Charity or no charity surely they have to take everyone around their event into consideration aswell.

As a side note, I have a number of other neighbours backing me on this as well as evidence that a home for intellectually disabled that is adjacent to this farm had to take out all of their residents due to the noise of last years event.

Any thoughts appreciated

endacl · 15-04-2016 3:00pm

Silver lining is he's had two of his five...

Keep a diary. And talk to your neighbours.

hullaballoo · 15-04-2016 3:58pm

Moderator: vixdename, there is no need for multiple threads on the same issue. Please do not start any more new threads about this issue but do feel free to update this thread, of course.

nuac · 15-04-2016 4:34pm

1. Get a solicitor with some knowledge of environmental issues

2. Ask solicitor to inspect relevant LA files, and to advise further if neighbour is in breach.

YOu may be able to get an injumction under s 160 of PDA.
Can get such an application into Circuit COurt very quickly

It would be better if the LA were to do this, but they are often slow to act for cost and other reasons.

You may need a sound expert. They cost.

A Distrcit COurt S.108 application may be much slower

I never heard of any exemptions for a charity to do what you describe

TheChizler · 16-04-2016 11:25pm

Surely these events would require Public Dance and Public Music and Singing licences? I can't imagine a district judge allowing all night events, if they have obtained licenses at all. Either way the Gardaí should be able to shut them down for contravening the acts.

Crazyivan 1979 · 17-04-2016 1:11pm

The EPA will do nothing in these instances. This shoulds be the job of the LA to investigate these type of complaints. But it really depends on the LA whether they will bother do anything.

I am an environmental consultant and IOA trained noise assessor and have been privatley hired to investigate noise complaints for use in civil cases (as the LA response was unsatisfactory for the client). It is not cheap to go down this route. Even if you win in court, you may not get costs.

vixdname · 17-04-2016 1:43pm

Cost will of course be a factor in it all.
Do ye think videoing the event which would of course have sound would be advantageous in getting our case across ?

Kristopherus · 17-04-2016 1:59pm

vixdname wrote: »

Cost will of course be a factor in it all.
Do ye think videoing the event which would of course have sound would be advantageous in getting our case across ?

Surely this guy has to have a dance licence to hold these events? That would mean going to court to apply for same.Any permission would be subject to the local Chief Fire Officer's approval and the local Super's approval.

vixdname · 17-04-2016 2:02pm

According to the LA certain premises can hold upto 5 such events per annum as long as its under a certain amount of attendees.
They also said they simply dont have the equipment to take noise measurements !

Kristopherus · 17-04-2016 2:04pm

vixdname wrote: »

According to the LA certain premises can hold upto 5 such events per annum as long as its under a certain amount of attendees.
They also said they simply dont have the equipment to take noise measurements !

Surely not sheds built on a farm. How close is this farm to an urban area? Or is it out in the sticks?

ED E · 18-04-2016 7:22pm

If it's a rave you can be pretty confident that there's not so legal substances in use. Tip AGS off for a few easy drugs busts and he'll soon lose interest.