Neighbour noise can be very intrusive and affect every area of your life. You do not have to put up with it. Below are three steps you can take to try and resolve the situation.

1. Approach your neighbour - Sometimes this can be difficult but point out the problem, think about how you would like to be approached. If you're not confident enough you can contact us on the details below or you can always get a friend or family member to do this on your behalf. It is usually the situation that the neighbour doesn't realise they are disturbing.
2. Mediation - If talking to your neighbour doesn't work, try involving a 3rd party to listen to both sides of the story and to help reach an agreement. Castle Morpeth Borough Council works with and supports a mediation service (Bliss Mediation - blissmediation@btinternet.co.uk). However there are a number of other mediation services available in the North East.
3. Formal action - If you feel the above two options are unlikely to resolve the situation you may make a complaint to the Environmental Protection Unit and we will investigate and aim to resolve the situation on your behalf. Generally at the beginning of an investigation will we ask you to keep a record of disturbance as this will help to establish if there is a statutory nuisance and in some cases we may even install recording equipment to gather evidence.

How to be a Considerate Neighbour

Please read the leaflet attached on how to keep the peace with your neighbour which we produced for Noise Action Week.

How to make a complaint to the Council

If you wish to make a complaint to the Environmental Protection Unit about a noisy neighbour please contact us on...
Tel:01670 535000 or
E-Mail: firstcall@castlemorpeth.gov.uk

Service Standard

We will respond to complaints of neighbour noise within 2 working days and aim to resolve your complaint within 3 months.

Page Date 02/01/08