Dear Mary-anne. What can I do about my noisy neighbours?

QUESTION:

 We live in a semi-rural street with only one house nearby, the rest is grazing and sheds.

The people next to us are so noisy we can't keep our windows open. It's a bunch of three young people in their 20, but most nights it sounds like there's a hundred people there.

I'm sick of it, but they'll know who tells on them if we get help.

ANSWER:

There's definitely a limit to the noise you have to tolerate from neighbours.

Nobody minds a one-off party – well, actually that's wrong, we had neighbours who called noise control every time our teenage boys sat outside and turned their music on, even in the afternoon. I was shocked by their mean-spiritedness and I vowed I'd never do that to families with teenagers or I'd invest in heavy duty earplugs before I stooped to the level of those neighbours.

Under the Resource Management Act 1991, the noise control provisions are designed to protect the public from excessive or unreasonable noise. I would think a party most nights where you can't open your windows is not reasonable.

You say they're three 20-year olds, so it's highly likely they're just completely self-absorbed and haven't given you old folk (?) a second thought. They might also think, "it's semi-rural, we're fine".

Start by going to talk to them and you might find they are reasonable and happy to turn the noise down. Explain about you needing some fresh air and occasional sleep and see if you can all find a compromise.

If you can't come to a peaceful resolution, then call noise control when the party is full-on and too loud. The noise control officers will decide what's excessive and unreasonable and they won't release your name to the people you've complained about (but, in your case, there's no hiding).

You can call noise control more than once. If your neighbours won't turn the music down, then the noise control officers can come back with the police and seize the stereo or whatever gadget the music is coming from.

You can go another step and get into a legal battle which will guarantee you even more sleepless nights. Who owns the property? If they're partying all night then I'm thinking it won't be the 20-year olds, so you could also approach the owners of the property.

There's nothing like pesky neighbours to cause you anguish and concern, so I'd try everything possible to keep it amicable before you bring out the artillery. Good luck!