The council has a legal duty to investigate all noise complaints that it receives. This does not mean that we necessarily have confirmed that the level of the noise is unacceptable.
We write to you first to give you an opportunity to see if you believe that you are causing a problem and to change your behaviour if you think you could be causing a problem.
Before the Council takes any formal action we will gather evidence ourselves of the extent of the problem, and may contact you again to discuss what could be done to solve the problem.
It is normal and natural for dogs to bark, and it is likely only to be causing a statutory nuisance if the barking occurs for long periods of time, frequently throughout the day or during unsociable hours (i.e. late at night or early in the morning.)
Try and talk to your neighbours about the barking to see what is particularly upsetting them, remember if you are not home during the day you might not know how much your dog barks.
Consider how loud you play your music and whether you could turn it down whilst still being able to enjoy the music. You might want to talk to your neighbours to try and set a reasonable level.
There's no strict definition in law. It can be described as 'an unreasonable interference with the enjoyment of your property'. It must occur regularly and continue for a period of time that makes it unreasonable.
