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6.2.14 Statutory Nuisance
The effects covered by statutory nuisance are far reaching. Typically, those effects most often covered include:
- Noise.
- Odour.
- Visible emissions such as dust, smoke and fumes.
All of these are often the source of many complaints taken up with the local authority or the magistrates court.
Nuisance can be seen as the interference with someone's use or enjoyment of their land. Statutory nuisance means that it will be within the scope of UK law. It includes activities, emissions or premises that are prejudicial to health or a nuisance.
Local authorities are given the responsibility of regulating statutory nuisance who may serve abatement notices which require something to be done about the nuisance, which, should no action have been undertaken, would be taken up in court.
With the exception of controls on smoke emissions that are covered by the Clean Air Act 1993, the majority of the UK legislation which deals with statutory nuisance is pulled together under Part III of the EPA 1990.
The local authority is charged with a duty, under section 79 of EPA 1990, to inspect its area to detect any statutory nuisances that are serious enough to warrant the issue of an abatement notice. Part III of EPA 1990 gives the types of statutory nuisances:
- Any premises maintained in such a state as to be prejudicial to health or nuisance.
- Smoke emitted from premises so as to be prejudicial to health or a nuisance.
- Smoke emitted from a private dwelling chimney in a smoke control area.
- Dark smoke emitted from a chimney of a building, or chimney serving the furnace of a boiler or industrial plant attached to a building.
- Smoke from a locomotive steam engine.
- Dark smoke emitted from industrial or trade premises.
- Fumes or gases emitted from private dwellings so as to be prejudicial to health or a nuisance.
- Any dust, steam, smell or other effluvia arising from industrial, trade or business premises and being prejudicial to health or a nuisance.
- Any accumulation or deposit which is prejudicial to health or a nuisance.
- Any animal kept in such a place or manner as to be prejudicial to health or a nuisance.
- Noise emitted from premises so as to be prejudicial to health or a nuisance.
- Any other matter declared by any enactment to be a statutory nuisance.
Companies may protect themselves from being served an Abatement Notice through showing that they have used the Best practicable Means (BPM) in order to prevent the occurrence of the nuisance or to minimise its effects.
Should a local authority believe such a nuisance exists, section 80 of EPA 1990 enables them to serve an Abatement Notice on the person responsible for the nuisance. Sometimes, a Notice may be served on the owner of the premises, and within section 80, local authorities are empowered to abate nuisances and prevent them occurring again.
Should an Abatement Notice not be complied with then the local authority may take this up within a magistrate's court. On conviction a court may:
- Impose a fixed fine.
- Impose a day penalty.
- Order the local authority to undertake remedial work and recover the costs from the person causing the nuisance.
Currently, the maximum fines are £20 000 for trade, industrial or business premises and a £5000 fine and £500 daily penalty for other premises. Upon conviction, a court may give compensation under the Powers of Criminal Courts Act 1973, to a complainant.
The individual that made the complaint may also bypass the local authority and take the complaint directly to the magistrate's court. The court may then make a Nuisance Order on the person causing the nuisance.
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