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We purchased a new-build house in 2021.
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We → see → 2021
After we moved in we discovered no noise assessment had been done and the council discharged the planning.
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council → move → planning
We submitted a complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman and it upheld our case.
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it → submit → case
The council agreed to upgrade our windows, fit mechanical trickle vents and build a four-metre high acoustic fence.
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council → agree → fence
We waited for more than four years for the council to supposedly assess the feasibility of the fence.
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council → wait → fence
The council recently said the four-metre fence cannot be built, allegedly due to underground services, highway safety and costs.
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fence → say → services
The council has now offered us a two-metre high fence, which will be useless.
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which → offer → fence
The noise in our garden is 70 decibels as we live feet away from a 70 miles per hour carriageway.
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we → live → carriageway
What can we do next?
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we → do → What
No noise assessment was completed for our new-build site by a 70mph carriageway (stock image)
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assessment → complete → carriageway
Jane Denton, of This is Money, replies: Noise impact assessments are often required by councils to ensure noise from new developments or industrial plants does not affect potential new residents or existing residents excessively.
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noise → reply → residents
Once planning permission has been granted by a local authority for a development or project, it is common for noise-related planning conditions to be attached which need to be discharged before any works can start on site.
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works → grant → site
In your case, the noise assessment was needed as a new residential development was being built in a noisy location right by a 70mph carriageway.
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development → need → carriageway
The noise assessment might specify noise mitigation measures either to protect the development from existing noise or to protect existing areas from a new noise source.
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assessment → specify → source
In your situation, acoustic fencing, or noise barrier fencing, could help.
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fencing → help → situation
It is a type of fencing that helps to block sound transmission from one place to another.
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that → help → another
It is not clear why a noise assessment was not carried out for your development and I wonder if this happens frequently.
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this → carry → development
I asked two solicitors for their thoughts on your problem.
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I → ask → problem
Manjinder Atwal, director of housing and property litigation at Duncan Lewis Solicitors, said: I would not simply accept the proposed two-metre fence.
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I → say → fence
The first question is how the original four-metre acoustic fence came to be offered by the council in the first place.
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fence → come → place
If it was agreed as part of the remedy following the Ombudsman’s finding, you would expect appropriate checks to have established that it was technically feasible before that commitment was made.
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commitment → agree → finding
After four years of assessing its feasibility, the council is now saying the fence cannot be built because of underground services, cost and highway safety.
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fence → assess → services
That raises a reasonable question about what checks were carried out originally, when these problems were identified and whether alternative solutions were properly considered.
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solutions → raise → question
Manjinder Atwal is director of housing at Duncan Lewis
I would ask the council for a full written explanation, including what assessment was undertaken before the four-metre fence was proposed, what now prevents it being built and what other options have been investigated.
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options → ask → explanation
The proposed two-metre fence should also be assessed on whether it will actually reduce the noise to a meaningful level, rather than simply whether it can be built.
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it → propose → level
An independent acoustic assessment could help establish this and provide useful evidence when challenging the council’s proposal.
You should also establish exactly what the Local Government Ombudsman recommended and what the council formally agreed to do.
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council → establish → what
Keep the Ombudsman’s decision, planning documents, noise assessments and all correspondence, particularly anything showing when mitigation measures were proposed and subsequently ruled out.
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measures → keep → decision
There may be legal remedies if the council has failed to properly deal with a planning condition, failed to implement an agreed remedy or reached its latest decision without properly considering relevant evidence.
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council → fail → evidence
Depending on the precise planning history and the nature of the decision, this could potentially include judicial review.
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this → depend → review
This is a specialist remedy with strict time limits, so legal advice should be sought promptly.
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advice → seek → limits
The council should now be able to explain what has gone wrong and, crucially, demonstrate why the alternative it is proposing is an effective way of addressing the noise problem.
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it → explain → problem
Joanne Ellis, a partner and specialist in dispute resolution at Stephensons, said: It is unclear why the planning condition was discharged despite the apparent absence of a noise assessment.
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condition → say → assessment
There may have been grounds to challenge that decision at the time it was made.
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it → challenge → time
However, as you purchased the property in 2021, it is likely that the time limit for bringing any challenge to the original planning decision has now expired.
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limit → purchase → decision
I note that a complaint has been made to the Local Government Ombudsman and that the council is now maintaining that it is not feasible to implement the agreed fencing solution.
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it → note → solution
The council has provided a number of reasons for this position.
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council → provide → position
Have you been given copies of the reports, assessments and other evidence on which it has relied when reaching that conclusion?
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it → give → conclusion
Depending on the circumstances, this more recent decision may be capable of challenge by way of judicial review if there is no alternative right of appeal or review.
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decision → depend → appeal
First, judicial review is subject to very strict time limits, meaning urgent legal advice should be sought if you wish to explore this option.
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you → mean → option
Second, the court's role is not to determine whether the council reached the 'right' decision, but whether it reached that decision lawfully and followed the correct process.
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it → determine → process
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia
