Neighbour noise (& maybe benefit fraud) - how to shop him?
Discussion
The guy who lives opposite me is moonlighting making gates and other iron work, using his garage as his workplace. This used to be a very occasional thing but in recent weeks it's clearly become a full time job for him. He's causing an unbearable amount of noise, which is especially annoying for my wife who works as a doctor and relies on some quiet time during the day to kip when she's working night shifts.
I approached him about it and asked if he'd mind downing tools for a few hours so my wife could sleep, but was told to mind my own business and buy her some earplugs if the problem is that great.
Having spoken to another neighbour about the matter, she believes the guy is claiming benefits too.
To be frank, I'm sick of the constant noise and I want to shop the c**t. So, fellow PHers, any advice to me on how to best go about this would be much appreciated.
I approached him about it and asked if he'd mind downing tools for a few hours so my wife could sleep, but was told to mind my own business and buy her some earplugs if the problem is that great.
Having spoken to another neighbour about the matter, she believes the guy is claiming benefits too.
To be frank, I'm sick of the constant noise and I want to shop the c**t. So, fellow PHers, any advice to me on how to best go about this would be much appreciated.
mathewb said:
I approached him about it and asked if he'd mind downing tools for a few hours so my wife could sleep, but was told to mind my own business and buy her some earplugs if the problem is that great.
I'd tell him that since that is his attitude I'll be speaking to the LA as I think he's running a business from the property.Running a manufacturing business from a residence needs Change of Use consent from the Planning Department so check there.
Benefits? Call the snitchers hotline.
Noise? Environmental Health. However, your wife's needs are not what I would consider normal nor reasonable. The fact that she works some nights - albeit as a Doctor - is her choice of profession so ear plugs might not be a bad idea.
Alternatively, secondary glazing in the bedroom is the easiest/most effective way of providing sound insulation to a window. Doing that would also give relief from incedental noise - roadworks, people moving in, building etc...
Benefits? Call the snitchers hotline.
Noise? Environmental Health. However, your wife's needs are not what I would consider normal nor reasonable. The fact that she works some nights - albeit as a Doctor - is her choice of profession so ear plugs might not be a bad idea.
Alternatively, secondary glazing in the bedroom is the easiest/most effective way of providing sound insulation to a window. Doing that would also give relief from incedental noise - roadworks, people moving in, building etc...
mk1fan said:
However, your wife's needs are not what I would consider normal nor reasonable. The fact that she works some nights - albeit as a Doctor - is her choice of profession so ear plugs might not be a bad idea.
A perfectly valid point of course - I mentioned this here as an example of his attitude. Naturally she is equipped with the prerequisite ear plugs and eye mask, but these are not foolproof and the racket he'd been making that day was both significant and prolonged. To expect the whole street to keep quiet on her account is not reasonable, and we wouldn't expect that, but I thought it was fair to ask the guy to give it a rest after several hours of distracting noise. Instead of doing so, or at least offering a valid reason why he had to continue, he just fobbed me off with a rude response and banged on for the rest of the day. He doesn't have a website nor an entry in the phone book, if only I didn't immediately discard flyers that arrive in my postbox, as he distributes these around the neighbourhood periodically.
Thanks to all who've posted. Some suitably snitchy phone calls will be made on Tuesday.
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