Council warns excessive noise hits louder penalties

Invercargill City Council is encouraging residents to be mindful of their neighbours after Central Government increased infringement fees for excessive noise under the Resource Management Act.

Coming into effect in September, several penalties have increased, including violations of Abatement Notices for unreasonable noise, which doubled from $750 to $1500. Violating an Excessive Noise Direction increased from $500 to $1000. Failing to provide required information to a compliance officer rose from $300 to $1000. Additionally, separate infringement fees now apply for individual and company offences.

Residents who receive two or more Excessive Noise Directions will also now face an infringement if they receive them within eight days, previously 72 hours.

This is part of the Government’s ongoing resource management reform programme and also includes other RMA breach penalties, including environmental offences.

Council Group Manager Consenting and Environment Jonathan Shaw said Central Government set the fees through the RMA legislation, which had not been increased since 1999.

“We hope the changes encourage everyone to be mindful of their neighbours and the rest of the community.”

Residents should expect some degree of noise within their neighbourhood, but when it became disruptive and ongoing, it became a problem, Shaw said.

Since 1 January 2024, Council has issued 16 abatement notices at residential properties, which are the result of three or more Excessive Noise Directions issued within a three-month period.

In the same period, Council has also issued 21 noise infringements – five for breaching an abatement notice ($750 each), and 16 for breaching Excessive Noise Direction ($500 each).

“Our compliance officers are facing more abuse and pushback while responding to noise complaints, and they deserve to be treated with respect when they are asked to step in. Because of the risk, our compliance officers now wear body cameras in an effort to reduce the abuse they face.”

While Council has not had to issue a fee for someone not providing information, it was becoming a more common problem.

“For instance, when the compliance officer is unable to get the information they need to do their job, such as when someone refuses to give over their personal details. It’s getting harder for our officers out in the field, so it is becoming more likely we will have to issue this in future, which will result in a $1000 fine.”

This falls under the Government’s resource management reform, which will replace the Resource Management Act 1991 with two new pieces of legislation – A Natural Environment Act, focusing on managing the natural environment, and A Planning Act, which will focus on planning to enable development and infrastructure.

You can find the full schedule of increases here. More information about noise control can be found here.