A husband and wife who had bought a new house beside a busy road without knowing about the noise involved have won a crucial battle with their local council.
Jackie McCormack and her husband, James, bought their 'absolutely beautiful' detached three-bed house in February last year.
Within a day of moving into the €375,000 home, they were taken aback by the constant rumbling, noise and pollution from the road beside them, with vehicles travelling up to 100km/h.
The 60-year-old previously questioned how the planners got permission to build the development "so close to the road" as she told Birmingham Mail of the hellish reality and serious impact on their mental health.
But now, the same publication has discovered that the council failed to properly acknowledge the conditions of the planning permission for their property.
The authority discharged the conditions around noise and contamination "without seeing a noise assessment report, failed to show why it decided the applicant did not need to supply one, failed to show the evidence it considered and based its decision on, or gave reasons", a Housing Ombudsman report said.
Her complaint was upheld, with the Ombudsman highlighting that Mrs McCormack's "quality of life and mental health have suffered" as a result of the council's mistake. The grandma, who has been fighting for 17 months, has also "suffered financially" after forking out for a noise impact assessment, alongside legal advice.
Alongside the noise from passing traffic, likened to a rock concert, the couple cannot open the windows for ventilation. Trickle vents installed in the windows "do not ventilate the rooms properly when the windows are closed", the report continued.
It added: "It failed to show it properly considered the ability of the glazing, the ventilation system, and garden screening to protect the property from excessive noise. The agreed action remedies the injustice caused."
A statement from the authority read: "The Council has admitted that the noise condition was not discharged properly and apologised to Mr and Mrs McCormack last year. The Council has offered to implement the works that would have been required via the noise condition at its own expense however Mr and Mrs McCormack have refused permission for this to happen."
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