Part 3 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 requires us to take reasonable steps to investigate and, if appropriate, to take formal action in the event of justified complaints of statutory nuisance.

A Statutory Nuisance in this context can include emissions of smoke, fumes or gases, dust, steam and smell. The emissions must arise from premises and must materially affect the use of enjoyment or other premises.

Typical of complaints of this type are smoke and ash from garden bonfires, smoking chimneys, dust from building and demolition activity and cooking smells from restaurants. The legislation does not allow us to deal with complaints of smells arising from domestic premises.

If satisfied that a complaint of statutory nuisance is justified, an Abatement will be served upon the person responsible, occupier or owner of the premises (as appropriate) requiring that the nuisance be abated. Failure to comply with an Abatement/Penalty Notice is an offence and legal proceedings may result. If found guilty of an offence of this type then the maximum fine is £5000 on domestic premises and £20,000 on commercial premises.

How do I make a complaint

Complaints may be made by telephone, fax or email.

Once a complaint has been made, consideration will be applied to the following:

• Location
• Time
• Duration
• Frequency
• Condition
• Importance and value to the community of the activity
• Difficulty in avoiding external effects of activity

and how it affects the use of enjoyment of complaints property and nuisance professional judgement as to weather a statutory nuisance exists.

If a statutory nuisance exists a formal notice will be served requiring the nuisance to be a abated. The notice may give guidance on how the problem can be resolved. If the nuisance is not abated, the authority can carry out works to resolve the problem and/or take formal proceedings to ensure compliance.

It is not possible to deal with anonymous complaints as there needs to be a person we can refer to whom is reporting the pollution.

Contact Details

For more information please contact Environmental Health

Telephone: 0121 704 6833

Fax: 0121 704 6795

Email: environmentalhealth@solihull.gov.uk