Environmental Health is responsible for these areas of environmental protection:
Complaints regarding industrial and commercial noise are investigated by Environmental Health except for noise incidents arising from industrial activities and installations operating under a permit issued by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) who will investigate breaches of a permit conditions.
Where a noise nuisance is established, action under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 or the Control of Pollution Act 1974 can be used to mitigate the noise concerned.
Most noise complaints tend to be resolved informally and formal action is rare. Where a complaint is complex, detailed monitoring using specialised equipment may be necessary and the investigation can become time consuming.
Where a complaint is made in relation to noise, contact should be made within 24 hours and the officer concerned will be able to advise and assist with any queries or concerns raised.
If it is possible that the investigation is likely to become lengthy, the officer shall also advise all parties concerned and maintain close contact, throughout the period of investigation.
If noise from a neighbour’s animal is giving you cause for concern please consider using some of the methods below which may help to resolve the problem.
Talk to your neighbour calmly to advise them that the noise from their animal is concerning you.
Many people who contact the council about noise disturbance from an animal are uncomfortable with doing this, as they don’t want to fall out with their neighbours or for their neighbours to know that they are complaining. However, by speaking to the animal's owner, the matter can be brought to their attention and addressed without them feeling that they have been reported to the authorities.
For a number of reasons it may not be possible for you to speak to your neighbour. If this is the case you may wish to put your complaint in writing to them, in a polite manner, pointing out that their animal is causing annoyance and asking them to take appropriate action.
It is useful to keep copies of correspondence for future reference.
If the animal noise is coming from a council house, you should email: housing@clacks.gov.uk.
If it is a housing association property, you should contact the specific landlord direct during office hours.
Council or housing association officers should investigate the matter in terms of the tenancy conditions.
If the animal noise is coming from a private property and deemed excessive, a written warning may be served by our environmental protection officers, which you can subsequently use in your formal action outlined below.
Section 49 allows complainers to apply to a Justice of the Peace/Sheriff Court seeking an order requiring the owner of any creature causing annoyance to take steps to prevent this occurring.
This application is by way of Petition to the Court and a hearing taking place. During this hearing you will be required to present your case in court before a Justice of the Peace/Sheriff.
If, after the hearing, the court is satisfied that the animal is giving you reasonable cause for annoyance, the court can make an order requiring the person keeping the animal to take steps to prevent the annoyance from continuing.
To take such action you will require to prepare a petition and serve it on the owner/keeper of the dog. Contained within this pack are details of how to prepare a petition, including a sample for guidance, a blank application form and helpful tips about evidence you may provide in court to support your case.
Please note that legislation is clear that the council (or third party) cannot take this action on your behalf.
Even if action is taken under the Environmental Protection Act for statutory nuisance, this will not mean the dog barking will necessarily be stopped. It will mean that a notice is served to reduce the barking to a level not considered a statutory nuisance.
We have no power to have dogs destroyed or otherwise silenced but the owner may be reported to the Procurator Fiscal for failing to comply with a notice to abate the nuisance.
Complaints about odour are regularly received by members of this Team. The source, duration and intensity of these odours tend to vary considerably and some investigations can become very involved.
Most issues are resolved informally and formal action under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 would only be considered in extreme circumstances. Invariably, odours are part of our everyday lives and what may be offensive to one individual may not be to others. Given that such subjectivity is at the heart of odour complaints, the officer concerned will take into account the source, duration and intensity of the problem together with your location before deciding what action is appropriate.
Any complaints should be acknowledged within 24 hours of receipt. The officer concerned is likely to need to visit the location affected in order to assess the nature of the problem. The results of any such investigation shall be detailed to the complainants on completion.
The Council has a duty to monitor local air quality. This duty is to ensure the various air standards specified in legislation are achieved. The monitoring is carried out for: -
The data available to date indicates that the air quality standards, as specified in the legislation are being achieved, however monitoring is ongoing.
For more information you can visit our page entitled Local Air Quality Management and view or download our latest Local Air Quality Management Report.
Smoke complaints can come from sources such as bonfires, wood burning stoves, chimneys and factories. Broadly, this service will deal with complaints from domestic premises.
The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency deal with smoke from factories. They can be contacted on 0800 80 70 60.
Environmental Health
Kilncraigs, Greenside Street, Alloa, FK10 1EB
Tel: 01259 450000
Email: ehealth@clacks.gov.uk