Commercial Waste Collection Noise and Enforcement
Case reference EIR2026/00907
Received 8 June 2026
Published 16 June 2026
Request
For the period 1 January 2023 to the date of this request, please provide:
1. The number of complaints received concerning noise arising from commercial waste collections.
2. The number of complaints specifically relating to commercial waste collections occurring before 07:00.
3. The number of such complaints investigated by Environmental Health.
4. The number of warning letters, advisory notices or other informal interventions issued in relation to commercial waste collection noise.
5. The number of statutory nuisance abatement notices or other formal enforcement notices issued in relation to commercial waste collection noise.
6. The number of prosecutions or other formal enforcement actions taken in relation to commercial waste collection noise.
7. Copies of any policies, guidance, protocols, service standards, operating procedures or codes of practice used by the Council when assessing complaints relating to commercial waste collection noise.
8. Copies of any policies, guidance, agreements, memoranda of understanding or other documents relating to commercial waste collections occurring before 07:00.
9. Copies of any documents referring to an "agreed 7am" collection start time, including the source, purpose and status of that agreement.
10. Copies of any guidance provided to Environmental Health officers regarding the evidence required before formal action may be considered in relation to commercial waste collection noise.
11. Any target timescales, service standards or internal guidance relating to the review of evidence submitted by complainants and the communication of assessment outcomes.
12. Copies of any guidance, policy, protocol, service standard or internal instruction relating to the handling, review or assessment of resident-submitted noise recordings or video evidence.
Response
1. The number of complaints received concerning noise arising from commercial waste collections. 2023 = 1 2024 = 4 2025 = 1 2026 (To End of May) = 3
2. The number of complaints specifically relating to commercial waste collections occurring before 07:00. 2023 = 1 2024 = 4 2025 = 1 2026 = 3
3. The number of such complaints investigated by Environmental Health. See Procedure for Commercial Noise Complaints
4. The number of warning letters, advisory notices or other informal interventions issued in relation to commercial waste collection noise. All cases would be investigated, most are dealt with informally.
5. The number of statutory nuisance abatement notices or other formal enforcement notices issued in relation to commercial waste collection noise. 0
6. The number of prosecutions or other formal enforcement actions taken in relation to commercial waste collection noise. 0
7. Copies of any policies, guidance, protocols, service standards, operating procedures or codes of practice used by the Council when assessing complaints relating to commercial waste collection noise. Please find attached Commercial Noise Procedure.
8. Copies of any policies, guidance, agreements, memoranda of understanding or other documents relating to commercial waste collections occurring before 07:00. Please find attached Commercial Noise Procedure.
9. Copies of any documents referring to an "agreed 7am" collection start time, including the source, purpose and status of that agreement. 7am is generally considered daytime. World Health Organisation guidelines and BS8233 refer to daytime hours as 7am to 11pm.
10. Copies of any guidance provided to Environmental Health officers regarding the evidence required before formal action may be considered in relation to commercial waste collection noise. Officers would follow the commercial noise procedure.
11. Any target timescales, service standards or internal guidance relating to the review of evidence submitted by complainants and the communication of assessment outcomes. This would all be expected to be carried out in a timely manner, there is not a specific timeframe that officers should have reviewed evidence within, as caseloads can vary and during Summer months officers are extremely busy leading to a longer wait time.
12. Copies of any guidance, policy, protocol, service standard or internal instruction relating to the handling, review or assessment of resident-submitted noise recordings or video evidence. Officers would follow the commercial noise procedure.
Please note, we have redacted (names, contact details and signatures) as we consider that this constitutes personal data as set out in the Data Protection Act 2018 and is exempt from disclosure under Section 40 (2) 'Data Protection' of the Freedom of Information Act (2000).
Section 40(2) of the FOIA states that information is exempt from disclosure if it constitutes the personal data of a third party and its disclosure under the FOIA would breach any of the data protection principles under the Data Protection Act. We consider that disclosure of this information would contravene the first data principle that 'personal data shall be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to the data subject'. The Council recognises that you have a legitimate interest in the disclosure of the information, however we consider that disclosure of the information into the public domain is not necessary to meet your legitimate interest.
We consider that the public interest in maintaining the exception outweighs the public interest in disclosure; if we were to disclose this information we would be processing the data in a way which was not intended by the third parties concerned. Based on these arguments the information which has been redacted from the information provided should be withheld.
Documents
This is Tunbridge Wells Borough Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.