The ‘Noise Complaint Statistics 2020-21’ report has been published today by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA).
The purpose of this report is to inform central government, district councils, the general public and any other interested parties as to the number and nature of noise complaints received between 1st April 2020 and 31st March 2021 by district councils across Northern Ireland.
Key points from report:
- Figures collated by district councils show that a total of 10,494 complaints were received in 2020/21, down 7.6% compared to the previous year’s figure (11,356). However, 8 out of the 11 councils reported an increase in complaints on the previous year.
- This represents the lowest number of complaints received since the 2006/07 reporting year.
- The greatest number of complaints received were from Belfast City District Council (13.3 complaints per 1,000 people) and the fewest complaints received were from Newry, Mourne and Down District Council (2.2 per 1,000 persons).
- There has been a 63.2% decrease in the number of notices served this year compared to last year (210 served this year and 570 served in 2019/20). There were two prosecutions for the 2020/21 year, compared to four prosecutions in 2019/20 and five in 2018/19.
- The report’s findings show that the majority of complaints to councils concern the following types of noise:
- Domestic noise – 76.67%
- Commerce and Leisure – 6.72%
- Noise in the street – 5.68%
- Construction – 4.45%
- Industrial – 3.83%
- Transport – 2.65%
- The report also provides an insight into the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns and restrictions on noise complaints, which were in place throughout different periods of the 2020/21 reporting year.
Notes to editors:
- All queries regarding the statistics should be referred to the relevant district council.
- DAERA collates the figures on the numbers of complaints which have been provided to it by the district councils. Thus, the Department is not in a position to comment on trends or specific findings.
- The domestic noise sources most complained about in 2020/21 are music, televisions and parties which accounted for 42.19% of domestic noise complaints. Animal noise represents 32.50% and other neighbour noise was the cause of a further 18.10% of domestic noise complaints.
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