Homeowners’ anger at noise from car stereos

RESIDENTS whose lives have been made hell by the noise from car stereos and engines revving late at night are hoping for action to be taken.

More than 60 people turned out to a meeting in Dovercourt to talk about their anger at the amount of noise blighting their lives in recent months.

And following the meeting Tendring District Council pledged that “action is to be taken” in a bid to tackle major noise issues affecting the lives of residents, who were given help and advice as well as a questionnaire to fill in to identify instances of noise nuisance concerning them.

The whole aim was to raise awareness about the problems caused by neighbour and environmental noise and work out practical solutions to deal with them.

Lynda McWilliams, the council’s cabinet member for the environment, said the event had been a great success and the aim now is to roll it out to other parts of the district.

“We were delighted with the turnout of 63 people – including members of residents’ groups – and a whole range of problems were discussed,” she said. “These included domestic noise, entertainment noise, anti-social behaviour (ASB) and noise at work.”

One of the major issues to be identified was noise from car stereos and loud vehicle exhausts late at night in the Harwich Quay area.

“We will be working in partnership with Essex Police and ASB officers to look into what action needs to be taken to try to resolve this matter,” added Mrs McWilliams.

TDC is planning to consult with people living in the town over problems affecting them on a regular basis. The event was organised as part of Noise Action Week 2010 and proved popular.

Mrs McWilliams added: “As more questionnaires are returned we will get a clearer picture of what other issues need to be tackled to help improve people’s everyday lives. This whole exercise will help us to come up with a policy and assist to prioritise our noise investigations in the Harwich area.”