Gill Court has been battling for more than a year to have loud nightly noise at a neighbouring property dealt with and she says it feels like she and other upset residents have no rights.
The resident of Howe Street in Howick has contacted Auckland Council, Counties Manukau East Police and Howick Police, and Pakuranga MP Simeon Brown to try to get the problem solved.
It began when a family moved into a rental property that’s not in the same street, but is nearby, in January last year.
“They moved their billiard table in and they play billiards and laugh and carry on all the time,” Court says.
“It’s also the screaming of the children until 1am or 2am and running around in the garden.
“We went through a lot of avenues [about the problem] last year.
“Noise control has been a few times. We’re told that it’s people doing normal things, but it’s not normal for children to be screaming and yelling at 2am.”
Court has spoken to other neighbours who are frustrated at the noise also.
She’s contacted the rental property’s owner and its property manager but neither has been able to find a solution.
She says the noise died down during winter last year, but then sparked up again.
“The billiard table used to be in their living room but they moved it outside.
“All you can hear every night is billiard balls and laughing, and this is every night.
“They start up at about 10pm and this carries on until 1am or 2am and sometimes 3am, every night of the week, all year round.”
Court and other residents met with Pakuranga MP Simeon Brown about the noise in the first half of 2022.
“He tried very hard for us and contacted people at the council,” she says.
“Every avenue we’ve been down, it’s like residents have no rights.
“Tenants have all the rights. I said to the [property’s] owner, ‘we just want peace and quiet at night’.
“I can’t remember the last time I had a decent night’s sleep.”
Brown says it’s “incredibly concerning residents in Howe Street are still suffering from disruptive neighbours”.
“Everyone deserves a safe and quiet enjoyment of their property.
“I encourage them to continue to make complaints when affected and I will also be raising their concerns with the appropriate authorities.”
Court has not visited the noisy property to talk to its occupants as she doesn’t want to be confrontational.
She and her husband have considered moving, but they’ve decided they aren’t going anywhere.
“We’ve been here for 39 years,” she says. “I love my house and I’ve been here a long time.
“We’re not suggesting they [the noisy tenants] move. We just want peace and quiet.”
A council spokesperson says noise control officers attended to 18 complaints at the property between February 2022 and January this year.
Three complaints involved music playing and 15 complaints were of “people noise”, such as people talking and or yelling and children playing.
“All the complaints have been found to be either not excessive or there to be no noise when the noise control officer attended.
“The council can only intervene where the noise is clearly excessive, and continues sufficiently long for the noise control officer to attend and assess it.”
Normal residential activity, including children playing, is often accompanied by a level of noise, the spokesperson says.
“The council cannot require silence from a neighbouring property, only to require that noise is not excessive.
“Some noise can be lawfully heard over the boundary without it being considered excessive or being at risk of enforcement action.”
