Noise complaints jump by 50 per cent in Whangarei

When it comes to noisy neighbours, Whangarei residents are becoming more educated or less tolerant - or perhaps both - with a 51 per cent rise in noise complaints in the past eight years.
A Whangarei District Council report shows complaints about excessive noise have risen from 2082 in the 2001/2002 year to 3160 in the 2009/2010 year - a 51.7 per cent increase.
At the same time, the number of noisy-equipment confiscations has gone up 400 per cent.
Excessive noise has been the number one complaint fielded by the council since 2007/2008, when it surpassed animal control complaints for the top spot.
WDC regulatory services manager Grant Couchman said there were a number of reasons for the rise in noise complaints, and it wasn't necessarily because people were getting noisier.
"We believe this is due to people becoming more informed about their rights over the nine-year period, perhaps as a result of a good effort in education by council to let people know what they can do," Mr Couchman said.
"We can only guess at other reasons; maybe because people are less tolerant than they were."
Mr Couchman said unwanted excessive noise could affect people's health and well-being.
In Whangarei, excessive noise complaints are handled by the council's contractor, Environmental Northland.
Stereos and parties are the main cause of excessive noise complaints, but noisy cars, chainsaws and power tools also draw complaints.
Following a complaint, noise control officers usually direct those responsible for the noise to turn it down or turn it off.
Unlike the number of complaints, the number of these "directions" has been decreasing over the 2001 to 2010 period.
"The reason these may be decreasing is that the noise has to be excessive when the officer arrives otherwise he/she can't take action, and in many cases the noise might be of short duration and turned down before the officer arrives," Mr Couchman said.
When "directions" fail to stop an offending noise, equipment confiscations are considered.
"Confiscations occur when people have ignored warnings or directions, and in this situation people are showing flagrant disregard for their neighbours. In this case officers return with police and confiscate the gear."
Equipment confiscations have fluctuated over the years, from just over 10 in 2001/2002 to almost 40 in 2009/2010.