Investigating your complaint

How we will deal with your complaint

The exact sequence will depend on the individual circumstances of the complaint, but the following is a broad indication of the actions you can expect.

After we have received your complaint

We will contact you to discuss the issue with you further and you will normally be asked to keep diary record sheets of incidents over a couple of weeks. These records will allow the officer to assess the problem and decide on the next course of action. If there is evidence of an ongoing problem, we are likely to monitor the issue using electronic monitoring equipment or officer observations depending on the nature of the problem.

The person causing the complaint will normally be told that a complaint has been made, but not who has made it (this information may be released if the case goes to court). This gives them the opportunity to change what they are doing and resolve the issue. We will always try to resolve the problem informally in the first instance.

If evidence of a statutory nuisance is obtained and the person causing the complaint does not take immediate action to stop it, the council will normally serve an abatement notice under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. This notice prohibits the person receiving it from causing the nuisance in the future and may specify works which are to be carried out.

Download the record sheets:

Last updated: ‎23‎/‎01‎/‎2024‎ ‎11‎:‎19‎