Daventry Council to apologise over noise complaint

The ombudsman said the council had not responded properly to residents' noise complaints

A council is to apologise to a "distressed" resident after being criticised by the ombudsman over the handling of a noise complaint.

Daventry Council was criticised by the Local Government Ombudsman for "repeatedly refusing to acknowledge its faults" over a complaint.

Residents had complained over "unsociable" noise coming from Lodge Farm, in Duston near Northampton.

On Thursday, the council said it would implement the recommendations.

In a report to the councillors, outgoing monitoring officer Simon Bovey said: "It is acknowledged that fault has been found at the environmental health stage.

"Officers do accept that some of the case handling should have been better and lessons have been learned and are already being applied to current case handling."

The ombudsman has called on the council to issue a written apology to the complainant, for it to agree to the appointment and terms of reference of an independent noise consultant with no previous involvement in the case, and to reserve £3,600 for the complainant and his neighbour for financial remedy.

After ruling out a judicial review of the ombudsman's decisions, council leader Richard Auger indicated on Thursday they would be opting to implement the recommendations in full, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

"I see a person who has been aggrieved and a victim who feels they have made a legitimate claim, and then an independent body comes up with a ruling that backs it up," Mr Auger said.

"Whatever the merits of the case this is about the perception of the victim, and my rationale is that I think it would be appropriate to accept these so that the victim feels vindicated."

After moving near to Lodge Farm, the man and his neighbour reported regular concerns including noise from vehicles, and people shouting at unsociable times in the night or early morning.