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MISCELLANEOUS
Noise Abatement Scheme
There was a slight reduction in the number of noise
complaints received during the year which is rather surprising
when one considers the local and national publicity which is
given in this matter.
34 complaints were investigated and each case was resolved
without resort to any formal action. 11 of these complaints
referred to industrial and commercial premises, and as usual
were mostly concerned with noise from the operation of plant and
machinery.
A total of 337 visits were made by the Public Health
Inspectors, the majority of these being of a routine nature and not
the subject of complaint. In addition 4 cases were brought to our
notice concerning chimes from ice cream vans and in 3 instances
prosecutions resulted — 2 under Section 2 of the Noise Abatement
Act, 1960 (Sounding Musical Chimes after 7 p.m.) and 1 under
Section 147 of the Hornchurch Urban District Council Act, 1936
(Sounding Musical Chimes on a Sunday). Convictions were
obtained in all cases and total fines of £9 plus £5 costs were
imposed.
An activity which caused a considerable amount of annoyance
to nearby residents was the establishment of weekly Speedway
Racing mostly in the evenings at the Romford Football Club
Stadium at "Brooklands". These complaints required a considerable
amount of late night investigation and whilst the football
club and the speedway promoters were most co-operative the
Department were never in a position to invoke the existing
inadequate legislation in this respect and were unable to achieve
complete satisfaction for all concerned.
As mentioned last year the Department keeps pace with
modern technology and uses an electronic noise meter which is
fitted with a wide range octave band filter and an accoustic
calibrator wherever possible in the investigation of these complaints.
Civic Amenities Act, 1967
This Act gives Local Authorities much greater power for
dealing with the problem of the dumping of litter on roadsides,
open pieces of land, hedges, ditches, etc. than the Litter Act of
1958.. During the year the Council prosecuted 15 persons under
Section 19 of the Civic Amenities Act for "abandoning rubbish
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