Nuisances

Definition and historical background

Statutory nuisances are matters that an Act of Parliament (ie. a statute) has designated and which can be dealt with in a prescribed manner by local authorities. They include noise, smoke, dust, fumes, odours, defective premises, accumulations, and the keeping of animals. The law relating to statutory nuisances originates in 19th century Public Health Acts and the same legislation, relatively unchanged, is now part of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Complementing the legislation is a vast body of case law, developed over the past 150 years, which provides interpretations of various aspects of the law, and even today decisions continue to be made in the High Court which influence the way in which we deal with statutory nuisances.

The tests to determine statutory nuisance

Whether any of the above matters can be dealt with as statutory nuisances depends on the effect that they have on people; the matter must either be 'prejudicial to health' or 'a nuisance'. 'Prejudicial to health' means 'injurious to health' or 'likely to cause injury to health', whilst the concept of 'nuisance' involves the unreasonable interference with another person's rights of enjoyment of their property.

For us to take action in respect of a nuisance it must be satisfied that one of these conditions is met, but since neither 'prejudicial to health' nor 'nuisance' is precisely defined it becomes a question of an investigating officer's judgement. Factors such as reasonableness, the impact of the nuisance, and its frequency of occurrence are taken into account. Thus a person who plays loud music on only one occasion will probably not be causing a statutory nuisance whereas someone who plays loud music late at night every week almost certainly will be causing a statutory nuisance.

Legal duties imposed on the Council

In addition to describing the matters that can be dealt with as statutory nuisances the law also imposes two important obligations on us:

Local authorities have a legal duty to 'take such steps as are reasonably practicable' to investigate complaints of statutory nuisances.

Where a local authority is satisfied a statutory nuisance exists, or is likely to occur or recur, they must take legal action to remedy the situation.

Action taken

The action that we take in respect of a statutory nuisance is the service of an 'abatement notice' on the person responsible for the nuisance. The notice can require the abatement of the nuisance, or prevent or restrict its occurrence or recurrence, and if necessary require works to be carried out. Failure to comply with such a notice is an offence and we can (and often do) prosecute the person on whom the notice was served.

In addition to prosecution for failing to comply with an abatement notice we also have the option to carry out any works that were required by the notice, and this can include the confiscation of sound equipment.