Speakers taken from noisy neighbour (From Gazette)

A question - if anyone turned up at a council office and played music and behaved in the manner described in this article, how long would it take for the council to act?

5 minutes.
30 minutes.
1 hour.
2 - 3 hours.
5 hours.
24 hours.
2 - 3 days.
1 week.
2 weeks.
1 month.
6 months.
10 months.

I would guess that the Council would have the police around with 30 minutes at the outside.

The neighbour who has suffered this abuse has been forced to put up with this psychological assault since last January, 10 long months. I repeat 10 long months.

According to the article, the person who has suffered this abuse hasn't been able to sleep since last January.

I guess that this has probably caused them a huge amount of stress that has impacted on their physical and mental health.

The Council takes far too long to sort out these matters.

This matter should have been sorted out within 7 days of reporting it.

The person who has caused this abuse should now lose their tenancy.

Furthermore the council, for failing to sort this matter out in a reasonable time (in my opinion a maximum period of 30 days), should offer reasonable compensation of £100 per day for every day that this matter was outstanding to the person who has suffered this anti-social abuse and further unspecified compensation for the damage to their health.

Too much of this carry-on is going on around Colchester and it's about time that it was stopped for once and for all.

The message should be clear and it should be backed up with swift action - there is no place for anti-social behaviour in Colchester.

There can be nothing worse than some idiot thinking that blaring music out at a stupid level, at a stupid time of time is acceptable.
Although the law is limiting to what action can be taken, Colchester Borough Council have a history of failing the residents.

To Feisty CBC - if as you say that "the law is limiting to what action can be taken," then the law needs to changed and changed quickly.

The knock-on effects on this sort of anti-social behaviour nonsense is costing a fortune in terms of people taking time off work to deal with it or because they're to stressed and too ill to attend work.

It also has a knock-on effect with police and NHS budgets.

I believe in taking a hard and swift line with this sort of thing.

Read a law book, find out how long it takes to take this action and all the procedures the council has to go through - then apologise. Why are you people so anti-council? Personal grudge I guess.

To Reginald47 - have you suffered any of the abuse mentioned in the above article?

If you were on the receiving end of this abuse what would you consider to be be a reasonable time for the matter to be sorted out would ten months be your idea of reasonable?

You mention the procedures that the council has to go through. In your opinion do you consider these procedures good or do they need changing and if so in what areas?

How would you change the system for the better?

What a moron. Form a orderly queue with a sledgehammer to finish off his sound equipment. Cut his electricity supply and seal up his front door.

To hell with his human rights.

There are a surprising number of people;who do not know what constitutes Anti-Social Behaviour.Prospectiv
e tenants should have to sit an examination and/or questionnaire on the subject,with a marking system that indicates Pass or Fail;before being handed the keys.Then,Probationa
ry Tenancies for 3 months at a time;consecutively for the first year.If there has been any offending during the first three month-period; give the tenant the option to Quit or pay Double Rent.Keep doubling the Rent for a further two offending periods; by which time they may have effectively priced themselves out of the property.I can understand the pain of victims when it comes to Harassment.I myself have had to endure three years of harassment from my immediate neighbour & his cohorts who have addiction problems.They knock on your door 24/7 for groceries.Most all will understand that addicts have had an enormous struggle & whatever treatment programmes are available;the results are often futile.There is a limit on one's nerves from harassment; which could lead to Mental Breakdown.

Reginald47 wrote:
Read a law book, find out how long it takes to take this action and all the procedures the council has to go through - then apologise. Why are you people so anti-council? Personal grudge I guess.

Actually the procedures are quite simple. It is because the council constantly procrastinate in the hope that the problem will just go away. Personal grudge against the council? Absoluetly!

Feisty CBC wrote:
There can be nothing worse than some idiot thinking that blaring music out at a stupid level, at a stupid time of time is acceptable.
Although the law is limiting to what action can be taken, Colchester Borough Council have a history of failing the residents.

An idiot thinking he can get a double decker bus through barriers at a level crossing maybe Fiesty? As for the law Reginald we don't need to read up on it, we all know what councils consist of, just like the police, people that dream up laws to justify their means, give them a purpose in life and then fail miserably to uphold them or find long winded ways to get round them!

totallyfootball wrote:

Feisty CBC wrote:
There can be nothing worse than some idiot thinking that blaring music out at a stupid level, at a stupid time of time is acceptable.
Although the law is limiting to what action can be taken, Colchester Borough Council have a history of failing the residents.

An idiot thinking he can get a double decker bus through barriers at a level crossing maybe Fiesty? As for the law Reginald we don't need to read up on it, we all know what councils consist of, just like the police, people that dream up laws to justify their means, give them a purpose in life and then fail miserably to uphold them or find long winded ways to get round them!

LOL. If I'd been caught on the level crossing like that I would have floored it straight through the barrier. Just as well I don't drive I suppose.

Well at least we won't have to keep an eye out for you on level crossings then Fiesty

There's no point in trying to state facts here because none of you want to here them, but the council doesn't act on it's own rules or by-laws when it comes to noise nuisance, it acts under a set legal procedure set out by Act of Parliament at that place called Westminster. Any speed-up of the situation would have to come from there - until then the council has to act at the speed it does, much too slow - yes - but it's the law.

Reginald47 wrote:
There's no point in trying to state facts here because none of you want to here them, but the council doesn't act on it's own rules or by-laws when it comes to noise nuisance, it acts under a set legal procedure set out by Act of Parliament at that place called Westminster. Any speed-up of the situation would have to come from there - until then the council has to act at the speed it does, much too slow - yes - but it's the law.

We can't hear the facts because the music is too loud. The law does what it wants and only does what it should do when it thinks fit, fact.

There's no such place as Lexton.

GreensteadResident wrote:
A question - if anyone turned up at a council office and played music and behaved in the manner described in this article, how long would it take for the council to act?

5 minutes.
30 minutes.
1 hour.
2 - 3 hours.
5 hours.
24 hours.
2 - 3 days.
1 week.
2 weeks.
1 month.
6 months.
10 months.

I would guess that the Council would have the police around with 30 minutes at the outside.

The neighbour who has suffered this abuse has been forced to put up with this psychological assault since last January, 10 long months. I repeat 10 long months.

According to the article, the person who has suffered this abuse hasn't been able to sleep since last January.

I guess that this has probably caused them a huge amount of stress that has impacted on their physical and mental health.

The Council takes far too long to sort out these matters.

This matter should have been sorted out within 7 days of reporting it.

The person who has caused this abuse should now lose their tenancy.

Furthermore the council, for failing to sort this matter out in a reasonable time (in my opinion a maximum period of 30 days), should offer reasonable compensation of £100 per day for every day that this matter was outstanding to the person who has suffered this anti-social abuse and further unspecified compensation for the damage to their health.

Too much of this carry-on is going on around Colchester and it's about time that it was stopped for once and for all.

The message should be clear and it should be backed up with swift action - there is no place for anti-social behaviour in Colchester.

If she couldnt sleep since January then she should of gone to bed as the bloke in question wasnt always there he spent at a lot of time out of colchester

it is not a case of procrastination these things have to be done properly and with due diligence. you cannot go gung ho into some ones life and start throwing the book about. some people do have issue and these concerns have to be treated and respected.
there are far too many hang them high comment makers on this site and not enough of you that look at matters pragmatically get a life

theequaliser1 wrote:
it is not a case of procrastination these things have to be done properly and with due diligence. you cannot go gung ho into some ones life and start throwing the book about. some people do have issue and these concerns have to be treated and respected.
there are far too many hang them high comment makers on this site and not enough of you that look at matters pragmatically get a life

Well said, equaliser. I often disagree with Reginald, but he and you seem to be the only voices of common sense on this issue.

theequaliser1 wrote:
it is not a case of procrastination these things have to be done properly and with due diligence. you cannot go gung ho into some ones life and start throwing the book about. some people do have issue and these concerns have to be treated and respected.
there are far too many hang them high comment makers on this site and not enough of you that look at matters pragmatically get a life

The thing is that people have seen the TV shows where they smash down the doors and walk off with the stereo, and assume the council will do this. But they can´t, they have to go through the procedure.

It has to be a persistent nuisance, not just an occasional party. Normally, the council will need to visit and monitor the noise, and will probably ask for a diary to be kept of when there is a problem. Meanwhile, they can write to the person making the noise. If it keeps being a problem, they can give a final warning. Only then can equipment be seized.

I´m sure if you´re the one with the genuinely noisy neighbour, this process must seem far too slow, and 10 months is a long time. But it can´t go to the other extreme, where people call in the council for every minor noise or disturbance. This is why they go through this process, to make sure that somebody will not be prosecuted just for having a few mates round now and then. We live in a crowded country, if you´re in a town, there is going to be a certain amount of noise. This kind of action has to be available, but only after all attempts at reasoning with somebody have failed.

I agree with you about the "hang em high" brigade. They´re expressing a feeling which I´m sure they believe completely, but it´s not actually a practical approach to life.