Written question WQ93709
- Asked by
- Gareth DaviesConservative
- To be answered by
- Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
- Tabled
- Due
- Answered
- Time to answer
- 5 days
Question
Does the Welsh Government have plans to provide local authorities with more well-defined thresholds for statutory nuisances?
Answer
Answered by Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
There are no plans to provide statutory nuisance threshold guidance to local authorities. Under Section 79 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 the local authority has a duty to investigate a complaint concerning a statutory nuisance. The investigating officer will make an objective decision based on the available evidence to determine whether a nuisance can reasonably be said to exist in the specific circumstances of each case and, if proven, what remedy is required.
If a local authority has been unable to establish a statutory nuisance exists or the complainant does not want to involve the local authority, Section 82 of the Act allows the complainant to take their own private action in a Magistrates Court to seek an abatement notice or other actions to prevent the nuisance from reoccurring.