Noise Action Week 2011 took place the week of 23 May 2011.
This is a national initiative, coordinated by the charity Environmental Protection UK. It is all about promoting public awareness and the consideration of unwanted noise issues.
This year Leeds Environmental Health highlighted some causes of general neighbourhood noise complaints, namely ice cream chimes and burglar alarms, and promoted responsible ownership. We wrote to all ice cream van operators, reminding them of the code of practice on sounding ice cream chimes (so as not to give reasonable cause for annoyance) and offering them the opportunity of having their chimes checked for compliance.
Burglar alarms continue to be a significant source of unwanted noise, often sounding falsely and disrupting the sleep of the neighbourhood. If your alarm is causing a problem and the Council does not hold any contact details for you, the Noise Service may disconnect your alarm and recover the costs for taking this action from you. To avoid this regrettable and costly situation, please take the following action if you have a burglar alarm:
- Download the Keyholder registration form from this page or follow the link to further details about the Keyholder registration scheme. Mobile numbers are best because most of us now carry a mobile at all times.
- If you are going on holiday or a long journey, leave a key with someone who can get to your house within 20 minutes to turn your alarm off.
- Have your alarm regularly maintained and ensure that it has a cut-out device to silence it after a maximum of 20 minutes. Many home insurance companies give a discount if you have an alarm service contract.
Leeds Noise Service now operates virtually around the clock. If you are bothered by noise problems, see our other pages on the Leeds website by following the link on this page. You can contact the Environmental Protection team (EP team) by email or phone us on 0113 222 4406 (08.00 – 18.00 Monday to Friday), or 0113 242 5841 (at all other times).