Resident complaints lead to prosecution of poultry owner by local council

On Thursday 3 July, East Lindsey District Council's Environmental Health team successfully won their case at Lincoln Magistrates Court against a local resident, after numerous noise complaints were received about a large amount of cockerels and other poultry being kept on land in Dogdyke near Coningsby.

The individual was found guilty of breaching an Abatement Notice served under Section 80 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 due to excessive noise caused by a large number of chickens, cockerels and guinea fowl next to residential properties in Dogdyke.

The site, which the individual did not own or have permission to use, took up 530 square metres - about the size of two tennis courts. The plot of land included wire fences and multiple makeshift structures used to house the various types of poultry.

With complaints from neighbours beginning in July of 2023, the council investigated and through use of noise monitoring equipment found noise coming from the site was four times higher than the point at which the World Health Organisation indicates that sleep disturbance would occur. Nearby families were unable to open their windows due to the level of noise and reportedly left young children distressed due to a lack of sleep.

Despite consistent offers of advice and guidance from the council's Environmental Health team to deal with the problem, which included reducing the numbers of livestock and housing them overnight to reduce noise; the team were left with no choice but to serve an Abatement Notice, which was then breached multiple times where noise was found again to be a significant problem for nearby residents.

The number of cockerels were reduced, but the owner still failed to successfully reduce the noise from those that remained particularly in the early hours of the morning.

Having then taken the individual to court last week, the council successfully prosecuted with the individual found guilty on both counts of breaching the Noise Abatement Notice. He was also issued a total fine for both offences of £120, court costs of £4,350 and a surcharge of £48, giving a total to pay of £4,518.

Councillor Martin Foster, Portfolio Holder for Operational Services, said: "I'd like to thank our Environmental Health team for all their hard work, this shows our unwavering commitment as a council to protect our residents from unacceptable noise nuisance.

"Prosecuting noise nuisance cases can be notoriously difficult, but the team's approach of thorough evidence gathering, measured enforcement and persistence paid off with this result."

For information and guidance about disputes with neighbours, please visit https://www.e-lindsey.gov.uk/article/17194/Disputes-with-neighbours-or-family-disagreements