Issue - meetings

Notice of Motion - Cllr L Lyons - Construction Site Noise Limits

Meeting: 29/07/2021 - Council (Item 8)

Notice of Motion - Cllr L Lyons - Construction Site Noise Limits.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Council considered the recommendation of the Executive in respect of Councillor Lyons’ motion on construction site noise limits.  The Mayor advised that he had submitted the motion to Council before being elected Mayor and that in his role as Mayor he would not speak or vote on the item.

The Motion had been considered by both the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the Executive and the report before the Council recommended that the motion as amended be supported.

Councillor Hughes moved and Councillor Barker seconded the following amendment to the recommendations before the Council:

“(vi)   a review be conducted after 1 year to determine the scale of the problem at that time and if further measures need to be considered.”

The Council supported the amendment and the Motion as amended was agreed nem con.

RESOLVED

That the measures as proposed within the report, together with the measures recommended by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee as set out below, be adopted.

(i)      Ward Councillors to be consulted where a Prior Consent Notice has been submitted requesting noisy works outside of usual hours, to the extent this is practically possible, before a decision is made;

(ii)      a quarterly report be prepared and submitted to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee providing details of noise complaints received;

(iii)     the communication with local residents on upcoming noisy works be improved by the use of the Council website and social media, ensuring consistency of the use of direct communication to local residents such as letters and door knocks; and

(vi)    a review be conducted after 1 year to determine the scale of the problem at that time and if further measures need to be considered.


Meeting: 17/06/2021 - Executive (Item 8)

8 Notice of Motion - Cllr L Lyons - Construction Site Noise Limits EXE21-050 pdf icon PDF 99 KB

Reporting Person – Corporate Leadership Team

Additional documents:

Minutes:

At its meeting on 11 February 2021, the Council referred the following Notice of Motion to the Executive.

Councillor L Lyons

“In accordance with the Control of Pollution Act (Noise) 1974, construction sites operating in Woking must currently limit site noise to the hours of 08:00 and 18:00 Monday to Friday, 08:00 and 13:00 on Saturday and not at all on Sunday, with no noise permitted to be audible from the site boundary outside of those hours.

(i)      These times are to be confirmed as a matter of Council policy, and any review of, or amendments to, these times must be determined by the Council.

(ii)      Any permission to vary from these times may only be granted to an applicant with the permission of the Planning Committee.

(iii)     Any such permission by the Planning Committee will only be granted in exceptional circumstances, and for a limited and specified period.

(iv)     Permission to vary these times on a single occasion, for a maximum period of one day, may be granted by relevant Officers under delegated powers. Subsequent applications, or applications for longer than one day, must be considered by the Planning Committee.

(v)     On all such instances of permission to vary from these times being granted, residents likely to be affected will be notified by post.

(vi)     Works deemed to be an emergency will continue to be exempt from these restrictions.”

The Executive considered the Motion at its meeting on 25 March 2021 and recommended to Council that the Motion be not supported.  At Council on 8 April 2021, it was resolved that the Motion be deferred to enable it to be considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 7 June 2021 and the Executive on 17 June 2021 with a view to the matter being brought back to Council on 29 July 2021.  Attention was drawn to a supplementary report which set out the views of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee for consideration by the Executive.  The Executive welcomed both the measures proposed within the report, and those recommended by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

REcommendED to Council

That the measures as proposed within the report, together with the measures recommended by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee as set out below, be adopted.

          i)     Ward Councillors to be consulted where a Prior Consent Notice has been submitted requesting noisy works outside of usual hours, to the extent this is practically possible, before a decision is made;

          ii)    a quarterly report be prepared and submitted to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee providing details of noise complaints received; and

          iii)   the communication with local residents on upcoming noisy works be improved by the use of the Council website and social media, ensuring consistency of the use of direct communication to local residents such as letters and door knocks.

Reason:   To consolidate existing arrangements.


Meeting: 07/06/2021 - Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Item 7)

7 Pre-Decision Scrutiny: Notice of Motion from Cllr Lyons OSC21-016 pdf icon PDF 53 KB

Reporting Person: Emma Bourne & Geoff McManus

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman introduced Geoff McManus and Emma Bourne, who provided the background to the report on the Notice of Motion from Councillor Liam Lyons on Construction Site Noise Limits.

 

Ms Bourne explained the process of how developers and contractors applied for noisy works and that there was a 28 day deadline for officers to respond with a decision. Examples of the large scale projects that required approval for noisy works were shared with the Committee, noting that out of hours works were sometimes essential for various reasons including health and safety of the public and contractors.

 

The Committee discussed the process and it was suggested that ward councillors were consulted on the out of hours noise applications.  It was noted that there were drawbacks to this proposal which could potentially cause a delay to officers work. It was felt that further delays would be incurred if decisions were to be made by the Planning Committee, and the Members were not supportive of this recommendation. The current process of delegated authority by the Environmental Health team was explained.

 

The number of complaints for noisy works in 2020/21 was 105.  Officers advised that multiple complaints could be for the same site, and varied from conservatory extensions to large scale developments.  Members requested further details of the complaints and it was agreed that a quarterly report would be provided to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee which detailed the complaints received.  The reporting function would allow members the chance to monitor the complaints rather than being heavily involved in the application process. The categorisation of the data in the report would be discussed outside of the meeting however figures for dust complaints was also welcomed by councillors.

 

Members were passionate about informing residents and in order to ensure that they were informed of any upcoming disruptions, it was agreed that the information would be posted on social media platforms, which could easily be shared by ward councillors. Officers would strive for consistency when informing residents and ensure that door knocks, letters and information on the website were actioned.

 

Members of the Committee were supportive of the officer report with the added quarterly reporting, and suggested to amend the wording of the final recommendations to allow more flexibility for officers but highlighted the importance of a political influence in the decision making process. The Committee noted the importance of clear two-way communication with officers and ward councillors on the disruptions within their ward.

 

The Chairman summarised the following points after the discussion:

 

i)          Where a Prior Consent Notice has been submitted requesting noisy works outside of usual hours, Ward councillors are consulted, to the extent this is practically possible, before a decision is made.

 

ii)         A quarterly report is prepared and submitted to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee providing further details of noise complaints received.

 

iii)        Improve the communication to local residents for upcoming noisy works by the use of the council website and social media and ensure consistency of the use of direct communication  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7


Meeting: 08/04/2021 - Council (Item 7)

Notice of Motion - Cllr L Lyons - Construction Site Noise Limits EXE21-032

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Lyons had submitted a motion to Council on 11 February 2021 which had been considered by the Executive in March 2021.  The motion dealt with the limitation on noise from construction sites and had not been supported by the Executive.  Councillor Davis, Portfolio Holder, introduced the recommendation of the Executive which had recommended that the motion, as set out below, should not be supported.

“In accordance with the Control of Pollution Act (Noise) 1974, construction sites operating in Woking must currently limit site noise to the hours of 08:00 and 18:00 Monday to Friday, 08:00 and 13:00 on Saturday and not at all on Sunday, with no noise permitted to be audible from the site boundary outside of those hours.

(i)      These times are to be confirmed as a matter of Council policy, and any review of, or amendments to, these times must be determined by the Council.

(ii)      Any permission to vary from these times may only be granted to an applicant with the permission of the Planning Committee.

(iii)     Any such permission by the Planning Committee will only be granted in exceptional circumstances, and for a limited and specified period.

(iv)     Permission to vary these times on a single occasion, for a maximum period of one day, may be granted by relevant Officers under delegated powers. Subsequent applications, or applications for longer than one day, must be considered by the Planning Committee.

(v)     On all such instances of permission to vary from these times being granted, residents likely to be affected will be notified by post.

(vi)     Works deemed to be an emergency will continue to be exempt from these restrictions.”

Councillor Lyons spoke in support of the Motion, outlining the key objectives of the proposals to create a fair, transparent and open process which would take into account the views of Councillors and residents.  Councillor Ashall suggested that further investigations should be undertaken on the implications of the proposals within the Motion before a decision could be reached to ensure the Members were fully aware of the current arrangements in place and the impact the changes proposed would have.

In view of the discussion, the Director of Legal and Democratic Services, Peter Bryant, suggested that the matter should be deferred to enable it to be considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee at its meeting on 7 June and the Executive at its meeting on 17 June 2021 with a view to the matter being brought back to Council in July 2021.  The proposal would allow Officers to consult with Councillor Lyons and Group Leaders with a view to identifying whether a proposed change to existing arrangements could be achieved without increasing the level of bureaucracy involved.

Councillor Lyons welcomed the proposed approach and supported the proposal.

RESOLVED

That consideration of the Motion be deferred to enable Officers and Members to investigate further possible changes to the existing arrangements to deal with the concerns over the impact of construction site noise and the control of hours  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7


Meeting: 25/03/2021 - Executive (Item 19)

19 Notice of Motion - Cllr L Lyons - Construction Site Noise Limits EXE21-032 pdf icon PDF 59 KB

Reporting Person – Corporate Management Group

Additional documents:

Minutes:

At its meeting on 11 February 2021, the Council referred the following Notice of Motion to the Executive.

Councillor L Lyons

In accordance with the Control of Pollution Act (Noise) 1974, construction sites operating in Woking must currently limit site noise to the hours of 08:00 and 18:00 Monday to Friday, 08:00 and 13:00 on Saturday and not at all on Sunday, with no noise permitted to be audible from the site boundary outside of those hours.

 

(i)         These times are to be confirmed as a matter of Council policy, and any review of, or amendments to, these times must be determined by the Council.

(ii)        Any permission to vary from these times may only be granted to an applicant with the permission of the Planning Committee.

(iii)      Any such permission by the Planning Committee will only be granted in exceptional circumstances, and for a limited and specified period.

(iv)      Permission to vary these times on a single occasion, for a maximum period of one day, may be granted by relevant Officers under delegated powers. Subsequent applications, or applications for longer than one day, must be considered by the Planning Committee.

(v)       On all such instances of permission to vary from these times being granted, residents likely to be affected will be notified by post.

(vi)      Works deemed to be an emergency will continue to be exempt from these restrictions.”

Councillor Lyons attended the meeting and spoke in support of the Motion.  Due to the level of confusion arising as a result of the matter being both a Planning and Environmental Health issue, the Executive was not minded to support the Motion.

RECOMMENDED to Council

That the Motion be not supported.