1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160 
No excuse for making yourself a nuisance
Page 29
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Operators trying to establish an operating centre have struggled with planning law since 1947 and, more recently, with environmental law since the changes were introduced in the early 198os,
We are living in a society which places environmental protection of individual rights at the very forefront of the politicians' agenda.
Complying with planning permission and any environmental conditions on your Operator's Licence is not the end of the problem, however, operators still have to face possible actions in nuisance.
In law, there are three types of nuisance: • Private nuisance: this enables an individual to bring an action against another individual claiming injunction or damages. A private nuisance is where there is an unreasonable interference by one person with another person's enjoyment of their land. Private nuisance tries to balance the conflicting interests of landowners. A neighbouring owner of land could bring an action against you under the common law. Actions in private nuisance are normally brought by owners of neighbouring land, but can be brought by any occupier of neighbouring land. • Public nuisance: this is where the public as a whole, or a significant group, is adversely affected.
Public nuisance is a criminal offence, and under it, an individual can be prosecuted by the Attorney General.
• Statutory nuisance: increasingly, environmental statutes such as the Environmental Protection Act create specific criminal offences. An individual can be brought before a criminal court, fined and have injunctions and orders made against them.
It is not sufficient for an operator to think, "I've got planning permission. I have no conditions on my 0-licence, therefore I must be okay".
Any neighbour or other member of the public who could possibly be adversely affected by any actions in your operating centre could still bring claims against you based on nuisance.
In the course of this report, we will examine the type of activity which could give rise to such claims of nuisance, what the consequences of such action could be—and, more importantly, what operators can do to avoid such actions in the first place.