Call for police to deal with excessive noise

Press, 13 April 1984, Page 2

Call for police to deal with excessive noise

PA Nelson Delegates from New Zealand’s city and borough councils said yesterday that they were dissatisfied with the Noise Control Act and called for more police involvement.

A remit at the Municipal Association conference in Nelson calling for the police to attend to complaints of “excessive noise" won overwhelming approval from the delegates. At present councils must attend complaints of both “excessive" and “unreasonable” noise.

The Mayor of Hamilton, Mr Ross Jansen, said that since the introduction of the law the number of noise complaints had risen dramatically. Noise problems usually happened after midnight

with alcohol and stereos usually involved. In some cases there was violence.

The Walmairi County chairman, Mrs Margaret Murray, moved an amendment, subsequently lost, that the police attend complaints of excessive noise between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. and that the councils have that job during daylight hours. Attending complaints at night put excessive strain on council staff, she said. .

The Mayor of Lower Hutt, Sir John KennedyGood, said his council had warned during the bill stages of the new law that it would not be workable.

“Now we find the legislation is not working,” he said. “Our chief health inspector is sft lin. When he turns up at 1 a.m. at a wild party he is likely to be assaulted.”

Sir John said that local authorities should attend the complaints during working hours only and the police should attend the others.

The Mayor of Napier, Mr David Prebensen, said that some residents had had to move out of their houses because of the problem of excessive noise caused by other residents. Noise control officers, traffic officers, and the police had to combine and “sit on these people and bring them into line. We can’t just hand it over to the police,” he said. A Northcote councillor, Mr Brian Putt, who introduced the remit, said that the change suggested would not completely solve the problem but at least it would set up a means of dealing with excessive noise.