Successful prosecution for noise pollution

On 16 September 2024, at Cheltenham Magistrates Court, construction company ‘Soldi Investments Ltd’ was found guilty of failing to comply with a Control of Pollution Act notice to control noise during the construction of the store in 2022 to 2023.

The construction company was fined £6k and ordered to pay compensation of £2k, as well as £4,835 costs to the council, bringing the total to £12,835.

In October 2022, Cheltenham Borough Council received complaints that the construction was taking place on the site outside of the hours stipulated in the construction management plan and the noise was disturbing residents.

The council served notice on Soldi Investments Ltd that required works and other operations, which could be heard at the boundary of the site, were only to be carried out between 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, and 8am to 1pm on Saturdays only. However, the notice was ignored and activity causing noise was recorded outside of these times. Noise from generators, operatives working inside the store, and vehicles moving about the site, continued late into the evening and the early hours of the morning, with 23 breaches observed between January and March 2023.  A local resident explained that at times the noise was unbearable and unrelenting, and it woke them from their sleep.

The director of Soldi investments Ltd, Mr Alexander Hirom Petheram, did not deny the contraventions of the notice, and apologised for them, citing health and safety and bad weather for why construction continued outside of the approved working hours. 

The council submitted to the court that failure to comply with the notice was a result of poor planning and management by Soldi Investments Ltd and Mr Petheram.

Cllr Victoria Atherstone, cabinet member for safety and communities, said: “It is unacceptable behaviour to ignore council set hours for construction operations, on multiple occasions, causing much harm to residents in Charlton Kings. This successful prosecution shows that where building firms fail to take proper measures, they will have to face the consequences.

“Our officers will use the full power of the law to protect neighbours from loss of sleep and disruption to their normal lives. In this case, our officers were not put off by the site operator trying to shirk responsibility during and since the construction work.

“I would like to thank them for their determination and hard work on this case and I hope it provides a warning to others considering similar anti-social construction behaviour, that it will not be tolerated.”

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