The top five noisiest areas in Wigan for the last three years have been revealed with hundreds of complaints being made by residents in the borough. The Atherton ward claimed the number one spot for noise complaints over between 2019 and 2022 with 70 in total.
According to the Freedom of Information request submitted by the Manchester Evening News there were 2,013 complaints made between 2019 and 2022 in the borough. The biggest spike of complaints came in the 2020/21 year - where the national lockdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic hit - with 757 in total.
Of the 2,013 complaints, almost half of these came from non-neighbour related noise disturbances such as construction and industrial works.
Read more: Residents' relief... and council's dismay: Reaction to HS2's 'Golborne Spur' being scrapped
Here are the top five wards for noise complaints (between 2019 and 2022):
-
Atherton - 70
-
Leigh East - 66
-
Wigan Central - 58
-
Pemberton - 58
-
Worsley Mesnes - 51
Wigan Council’s environment team are assigned to deal with these issues and have said that they work with problem areas to reduce complaints being made. They did say that on-going cases can lead to court cases and fines.
Dave Lyon, assistant director for environment at Wigan Council, said: “We have a range of options for dealing with on-going serious noise nuisance.
“We would encourage people to be good neighbours and try and settle issues amicably first before involving ourselves or other public services. Often people are not deliberately making noise and do not realise that they are causing a problem for others.
“However, noise that is excessive and unreasonable is a form of anti-social behaviour and can adversely affect someone’s quality of life. It can also have a detrimental impact on their health and wellbeing.
“In serious on-going cases of noise nuisance someone could end up in court and face a fine.
In the 2021/22 year most recently, the highest number of complaints by localities per 50,000 population are:
-
Hindley, Ince, Platt Bridge, Scholes, Aspul - 140
-
Leigh - 110
-
Wigan Central - 102
-
Tyldesley and Atherton - 85
-
Wigan North - 55
-
South Wigan and Ashton North - 54
-
Lowton and Golborne - 42
“If a person is bothered by anti-social noise we would suggest they make a log of dates and times of the noise so we have as much information as possible,” Mr Lyon continued. “A resident complaining about noise nuisance will be asked to complete a diary sheet initially so that the council has the information it needs to begin an investigation.
“The council will try a number of informal methods including mediation to try to resolve noise complaints. However if this approach does not work then the council may install noise monitoring equipment or carry out observations.
“If someone fails to deal with a nuisance once they have been formally instructed to do so by the council, they can face prosecution in court and a fine. In cases of noise nuisance the council also has the power to seize noise making equipment such as stereos, surround sound systems and gaming machines.
“We actively encourage people to report noise nuisance to us via the council’s Report It website: https://www.wigan.gov.uk/Report-it/Report-a-problem.aspx.”
