# Complaint to planning authority about noise & floodlighting



## Orga (2 Jan 2015)

Just a post to document my experience with a county council regarding a complaint about two issues, noise and floodlighting.

I live in an area zoned other settlement, in a small housing estate. It's a quiet, mature estate. My house is the closest house to a particular business. It is the only business in the vicinity (700m radius) of the estate.

About a year and half ago I became aware of a constant noise from the business premises, around the time it changed owners. I found that the noise came from an industrial air handling unit which the business owners installed. I also noticed that they had installed floodlights, which flooded my back garden with light. 

The consequence of the noise was that it was hard to sleep with the windows open during summer, and when sitting in the garden to read a book the noise was like a wasp, continuous and permanent. The consequence of the floodlighting is that the bedroom, like the back garden is flooded with light so, it meant I needed a black-out blind.

I approached the business proprietor about the issues, and met them several times. I said that I believed in being a good neighbour and that I'd be grateful if we could work out some arrangement e.g. re-focusing the lights (after all a business needs lighting), and turning off the air-handling unit in the evening after 6pm. This approach didn't get the response I had hoped for.

I wrote to the Council for advice. The Council wrote back and told me that it was treating my inquiry as a complaint. I wrote again and said that I was only looking for advice should I later be making a complaint. The Council proceeded with a complaint. I heard nothing for quite a while from the Council, so I wrote again inquiring as to what was happening. The Council wrote back saying that a planner would visit the site in question and asked me to submit further information. I sent a number of recordings and information about differences between the planning drawings for the business and the existing structures, focusing on the air handling unit, some adjoining large metal chimneys, and the floodlighting. I heard nothing again from the Council for a considerable period (I'm taking considerable period to be a period in excess of what the Council outlined in its customer charter). I wrote again to inquire. 

The Council replied that it had considered the matter and that there was no noise and that floodlighting attached to a building was exempted under planning regulations. I wrote again to inquire as to how the Council ascertained there was no noise, and to ask how the Council person visiting the site had been able to assess the impact of the floodlighting when it was daytime when they visited and the lights were off. I also asked the Council what its view was of the metal structures i.e. the air handling unit, which wasn't part of any planning application/grant. The Council replied that because I hadn't mentioned the air handling unit in my first letter it did not include it in the "complaint" and it quoted a section of the Planning & Development Acts to support the statement about floodlighting being exempted development.

I complained to the Council under its own complaints procedure about how it had handled the issue: it had failed to reply on several occasions, it had not addressed the issue of the air handling unit, I had no understanding of how it had weighed the recordings I sent it, the determination about the floodlighting was at variance with my interpretation of the Acts. The Council responded to my complaint by re-stating that there was no noise, and that the floodlighting was exempt. The Council invited me to submit further information should I wish.

I contacted 4 other councils and asked for how they would treat the issue of floodlighting being attached to an existing building in an area with the same zoning as where I live. I included images of the types of floodlighting and estimates of the coverage and spill from the lighting. While there were some differences among the responses they all, categorically, confirmed that such floodlighting was not exempt.

I took 15 recordings across different times and dates and sent them to the Council. When I did not receive a reply from the Council I took a complaint to the Ombudsman's office. The methodology which the Ombudsman's office used was to request a file from the Council and the Council's observations. Having considered these the Ombudsman's office wrote to me to tell me that they could find no maladministration. The critical issue was whether there was noise or not. I had sent 20 recordings at this point, the Council had no recordings, and having sought the Council's files under FOI I found there was no detail of the areas of the site that the Council official visited, or how long they spent there, or if they made any measurements, or took recordings, only that they visited the site and found that there was no noise.

So, I wrote to ask the Council what its view was of the recordings I had submitted, what it would require if it were to be able to take action in relation to a noise issue, and what its view was of the air handling unit and other structures which did not appear on the planning drawings. The Council replied to acknowledge my letter but did not answer any of the queries which I raised - its reply led me to believe that nothing will happen, as the Council said that it would visit the site again some time in the future and would contact me then.

It's my view that this is a relatively simple issue: either there is a noise or there isn't. If there is a noise then either it's sufficient in volume, frequency or characteristic to be a nuisance or its not. The Council has said there is no noise, so it's a case of me, with my ears (and my partner, friends, extended family) hearing the noise, and the Council person not hearing it. As for the floodlighting, I think light is even more obvious than noise, but where the Council has ruled my options are to ask the Council for a formal declaration(cost of 50eur) and then appeal it to an Bord Pleanala (cost200eur), with the result that even if the business has to seek planning, I have fair idea where the Council will stand on the matter.

So, in the words of the waiter to George Best, where did it all go wrong?


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## Leo (5 Jan 2015)

Have you taken a measurement of the noise levels using a noise level meter? You can get a smartphone app that will give a very rough level (but there are too many variables for these to be really accurate), or you can hire a proper meter for ~€30 a day or even buy one starting ~€40.

Noise complaints also fall under the remit of the EPA, so you could try that avenue. 

The main problem you will face then is that unless a noise condition was attached to planning or an EPA order for the facility, there is no set level in Ireland as what constitutes excessive noise.

Take a look at the Dublin noise action plan [broken link removed]. Also see the Dublin Noise Management [broken link removed], the link to the map isn't working right now, but you can select from some areas and plot the levels of background noise over time. You'll see a lot of the time, background noise averages about 60dB for various areas, for a complaint to have a good chance, you're going to need to see levels in excess of this.

I believe the only requirements for planning for floodlighting is where the units are mounted on poles >11m in height. Light pollution is legislated for in the UK, but there is no equivalent legislation here, so there is no grounds for complaint that can be upheld by the local authority or the courts. So the council inspector can not make any assessment of the impact of lighting.


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## thedaddyman (5 Jan 2015)

When we moved offices a number of years ago and refurbed the building we were moving to, a residential neighbor raised an issue about a temporary generator we had installed. He didn't bother going to the council, he went to his local TD who happened to be a Govt Minister and suddenly we found the council were all over us. If you're getting no resolution the "proper" way, maybe going to the local TD might be another option.


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