Council environmental team highly commended at ‘Noise Oscars’

Charnwood Borough Council’s environmental health team has been recognised for its work to reduce noise problems.

The team received the John Connell “Highly Commended” Award at the Palace of Westminster, for their work on developing guidance on noise controls at outdoor events in the borough.

The annual awards, known as the ‘Noise Oscars’ are run by the Noise Abatement Society. They recognise creative and educational solutions to solving noise problems in communities.

Councillor Margaret Smidowicz, Lead Member for Regulatory Services, Enforcement and Licensing said: “This award acknowledges the work undertaken by our environmental protection team to control unwanted noise in the community.

“Large music events can be enjoyed by hundreds, sometimes thousands of people but it is also important that events are effectively controlled to minimise any unnecessary disturbance and annoyance to local residents.

“The work the team has done has meant we’ve seen a reduction in the number of complaints from nearby residents at these events, along with better communication between us and the event organizer.

“Well done to the team for their achievement.”

The work includes putting together advice which is sent to organisers to outline what they are required to do before the event to prevent noise problems.

Meetings are also held with organisers to encourage a standard level of noise control at all large scale events.

Gloria Elliott, Noise Abatement Society Chief Executive, said: “NAS congratulates Charnwood Borough Council for pre-empting potential noise disturbance to residents from outdoor events by strengthening its liaison with event organisers well in advance, providing detailed noise mitigation measures to reduce the risk of annoyance. Working together in this way has already proven very successful.”

For more information about environmental protection in Charnwood, visit: www.charnwood.gov.uk/environmentalprotection