... to want the council to stick to their own code of conduct?

[MrsMar]

Currently I have Thames Water building a huge hole outside my house as part of a giant flood alleviation scheme (appropriate timing or what?) so it's something that I understand is really important. The hole is currently 2 metres wide and they are digging down 40 metres before tunnelling the length of my road. The works are due to last four months, until October 2007.

When the works were first announced, they had a consultation with locals and said their working hours would be 0730-1800 monday to friday with occasional saturdays 0800-1600 if necessary. This weekend was the first weekend of working, and they started at 0730 on saturday morning and worked until 1900 and then on Sunday they started at 0800 until 1600. The noise level is huge, it's basically pneumatic drills and mechanical diggers all day. The Council's policy on noisy construction sites is that there should be no noisy work carried out on a sunday and only 0800-1300 on a saturday.

Now my dilemma is I'm a shift worker, so I'm finding the noisy works very disruptive. I understand they've got to go on, but AIBU if I want them to stick to their stated working hours. I finished work at 11pm on Saturday and was woken up at 8am by the noise on sunday. The diggers are right outside my bedroom window, and it galls me that all the workmen have ear defenders, and yet I'm supposed to put up with it. I'm obviously more tired because I'm pg, but even if I wasn't I think the disturbance is too great. Should I wait and see if they do it next weekend or should I complain now?

Phew! sorry this is so long, any opinions would be gratefully received!!

[MrsMar]

Hi there J20, sorry been in a builder hell of my own (long story, my builders are rubbish!) I haven't had a chance to call the council, dh keeps saying I'm making too much fuss over nothing, I'm going to ignore him of course. I did whip out my Dr Miriam Stoppard book and made him read the bit about pregnant women's hearing being more sensitive. He reckons I should wait until this sunday and see if they do it again. He said he'd rather the work was finished faster (it's due to go on until October) even if it means working every day including sunday but he just can't see, who cares if it carries on until November when we're all tucked up indoors if we can't use the garden on any single day during the summer, not even sundays? Grrr!

[j20baby]

mrsmar, have you had chance to ring up yet, and ask them what the hell they think they're playing at?

[hydrophobia]

environmental health noise pollution section, apparently it doesn't matter what time the noise is if it annoys you and they come and witness it then according to the law the noise has to stop and they can take offending equipment away!!


(have been on receiving end of this from some mad woman in downstairs flat complaining about tv which wasn't loud just her ceiling paper thin, council man eventually agreed our tv sounded louder in her flat than ours)

[MrsMar]

I think you're right J20. At least if I can get an assurance they won't do it this sunday and they do, I've got something to go back to the council with. I was tempted to throw something at them, I could lean out my bathroom window and chuck a bucket of water over them, they are that close!

[j20baby]

do it now

and then next week, and the week after that and on the 4th week throw stuff at them!

i used to dream i went and unplugged the generator, i think a couple of times people did!

[MrsMar]

thanks for posts everyone do you think I should wait to see if they do it this sunday or just follow it up now?

[Tortington]

local papers

[kookaburra]

Complain, and keep complaining, and rustle upyour local councillors, and, dare i suggest get their own noise abatemement officials to come and calibrate the decibel level. There is nothing more debilitating than sleep deprivation - you have a right to know when you can sleep and they must keep to thie own code.

[MrsMar]

sorry you didn't get any support J20, I have a feeling my council will be as unsympathetic. They boast about having the lowest council tax in the country, but they treat residents with disdain to say the least. when I complained about parking problems in our road, I was told to sell my car! Nice!

[NoodleStroodle]

Complain.
Is there a noise department at your council?

our council have a strict rule about putting dustbins out at the front of the pavement but not on the footpath etc and what do the recycling people do - fling the wheelie bins, food caddies and recycling boxes approximately near a house.
Really annoys me. Sorry for hijacking the thread.

[j20baby]

complain, but they probably wont listen, they didn't to me about a generator that run all night for about 6 weeks outside my bedroom window

[MrsMar]

That's what I was thinking.. dh is much more of the belief see if they do it again, maybe it was just a one off. But then that would be a second sunday ruined.

[j20baby]

complain now or they'll do it next week