Tēnā koe John

 

Thank you for your email dated 13/10/2021 requesting information about
construction related noise complaints.

 

Our team will manage your request under the Local Government Official
Information and Meetings Act 1987 which requires us to provide a decision
as soon as possible, but no later than 11/11/2021, being 20 working days
of receipt.

 

The reference number for your request is IRC-2475.

 

Please contact us if you have any further questions.

 

Kind regards

 

The Assurance Team

Email: [1][email address]

Wellington City Council | W [2]Wellington.govt.nz | [3]Facebook|
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show quoted sections

Dear Mr. Sanders,

 

Thank you for your email to the Council received on 13 October 2021 in
which you requested information relating to construction related noise
complaints received during the 2021 year to date.

 

As you asked a number of questions I will address these in the order of
your email.

 

1) For the above period, how many noise complaints have been received by
WCC related to construction noise?

 

For the period 1 January 2021 to 13 October 2021 the Council received 264
complaints in respect of construction noise.

 

Please note:  The figure provided above relates to complaints of
construction noise occurring outside of the permitted noisy working hours
of 7:30am -6.00pm and passed to our noise contractors to investigate.
Noise from Construction occurring during the permitted hours are passed to
an Environmental Noise officer to investigate and respond to. However,
whilst this information is not recorded, such complaints are thought to
have been less than ten over the course of the year.

 

2) Of these, how many have been verified by WCC staff?

 

Unfortunately; this information is not held in any easily retrievable
format and as such, each complaint record would need to be manually
checked.

 

Whilst the Council could extract this information, this would require
approximately 4 hours of officer time. As such, the Council would look to
charge for the collation of this information as per the Ministry of
Justice Charging Guidelines. [1]Charging guidelines for OIA requests | New
Zealand Ministry of Justice

 

The estimated cost of the retrieval and compilation of this information
will be approximately $304.00.

 

If you require the Council to retrieve and collate this information please
contact me to advise.

 

3) For the noise complaints verified as valid, what categories of
enforcement action (fines, confiscation of construction equipment, etc)
are available for WCC staff to levy against the violator?

 

On receipt of a noise complaint, the Councils Noise Compliance Officer(s)
will visit the site.  If the Officer deems noise to be excessive, then, in
accordance with the excessive noise provisions of the Resource Management
Act, Section 326, the Officer will issue an Excessive Noise Direction
Notice.  This excessive noise provision legislation provides an immediate
but short term resolution to excessive noise.  The excessive noise
direction is in force for 72 hours.  If the construction noise continues
to be excessive within this 72 hour period and WCC received a
further complaint(s) a Noise Officer will attend the site again and if
deemed excessive a second time within this 72-hour period we can seize
equipment or use the infringement process of S343 of the RMA. The penalty
for contravening an excessive noise direction is currently set at $500.  

 

Council may also issue an abatement notice (in force indefinitely) to seek
a long-term resolution depending upon the circumstances. This is an
official letter asking the offender to stop the unreasonable noise or to
reduce the noise to a reasonable level within a specified period. As
prescribed under the RMA the penalty for a breach of an abatement notice
is $750.

 

Please note:  If Council receive on going noise complaints with respect to
a site producing loud levels of noise during the day; if deemed necessary,
and after conducting a review, Council environmental noise officers can
undertake noise measurements or in some cases Council may also request the
Consent Holder have an acoustic consultant to conduct measurements and
report back to Council in order to demonstrate they are complying with the
construction noise limit set out in NZS 6803:1999 Acoustics – Construction
Noise.  This is the national acoustic standard for construction noise.

 

4) In total, what is the value of fines levied by WCC against construction
noise violators?

 

For the period relating to your request, no fines have been issued given
the compliance with the notices served.

 

5) On an average fine basis, what is the value for a construction-related
noise complaint fine?

 

For the period relating to your request, this information is not available
as no fines have been issued.

 

Kind regards,

Ian

 

Ian Hunter
Senior Advisor | Official Information Team | Wellington City Council
P 04 803 8315 | M 021 227 8315
E [2][email address] | W [3]Wellington.govt.nz 
The information contained in this email is privileged and confidential and
intended for the addressee only.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are asked to respect that
confidentiality and not disclose, copy or make use of its contents.
If received in error you are asked to destroy this email and contact the
sender immediately. Your assistance is appreciated.
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References

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