Council to apologise to ‘distressed’ resident after ombudsman criticism over noise complaint handling

The authority was criticised by the Local Government Ombudsman for ‘repeatedly refusing to acknowledge its faults’ after the ‘distressed’ residents of a new housing estate saw their complaints about the Lodge Farm industrial estate, near Duston, fail to be dealt with efficiently.

On Thursday evening councillors decided to implement the recommendations despite officers telling them the punishment was ‘disproportionate’.

Outgoing monitoring officer Simon Bovey, in a report to the councillors, said: “It is acknowledged that fault has been found at the environmental health stage. Officers do accept that some of the case handling should have been better and lessons have been learned and are already being applied to current case handling.

“It is further acknowledged by officers that this handling will have caused some anxiety for the complainant, which deserves an apology. However, officers consider that the ombudsman’s recommended actions arise from the investigator’s flawed approach to noise assessment which consequently results in a disproportionate remedy.”

The ombudsman has called on the council to issue a written apology to the complainant, for it to agree to the appointment and terms of reference of an independent noise consultant with no previous involvement in the case, and to reserve £3,600 for the complainant and his neighbour for financial remedy (£1,800 each). Alternatively, the funds could be used, if agreed by the complainant, towards providing any noise mitigation works the independent noise consultant might recommend.

After ruling out a judicial review of the ombudsman’s decisions, council leader Richard Auger indicated on Thursday (February 20) that they would be opting to implement the recommendations in full.

He said: “I see a person who has been aggrieved and a victim who feels they have made a legitimate claim, and then an independent body comes up with a ruling that backs it up. Whatever the merits of the case this is about the perception of the victim, and my rationale is that I think it would be appropriate to accept these so that the victim feels vindicated.

“I also feel there may be a perception that we would be cherry picking elements of it if we didn’t, and that might harm the reputation of the council.”

After moving near to Lodge Farm, the man and his neighbour reported regular concerns including noise from vehicles, tannoy announcements and people shouting at unsociable times in the night or early morning. The council also received several complaints from other residents from the development.