This report is intended to inform central
government, local authorities, the general
public and any other interested parties
of the number and nature of noise
complaints that are received by district
councils in Northern Ireland each year.
The Environmental Policy Division of
the Department of the Environment has
compiled this report from data supplied by
district councils as they are the organisations
empowered to deal with the vast majority
of noise pollution.
This report analyses noise complaints
received by all 26 councils from 1 April 2010
to 31 March 2011. There has been a 0.87%
decrease in the total number of complaints
received compared to the previous year,
yet the number of prosecutions has
increased three fold. In 2009/10 there were
8 prosecutions. This year there were 24.
Since 2003/04, when numbers of complaints
were first complied, there has been a 38%
increase in complaints.
The information in this report is an
important indicator of the effectiveness
of current noise controls. It is anticipated
that the statistics provided by the district
councils will enable the Department of
the Environment to more appropriately
target policy development and research
needs in respect of environmental and
neighbourhood noise and identify trends.
This report also enables councils to
compare their noise statistics to those
of neighbouring districts and to examine
trends