Bradford Council’s Environmental Enforcement and Environmental Health Teams have successfully prosecuted the owner of a property in Duchy Avenue, Bradford, for not clearing waste accumulations from the property’s land and nuisance caused by a dog barking.
The ongoing issues significantly impacted the local community’s quality of life for several years. After trying to work with the owner to resolve the accumulation of waste matter informally, and despite a commitment from the resident to remove it, the waste remained on the property’s land.
Subsequently, a Community Protection Warning was issued followed by a Community Protection Notice under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, which the owner did not comply with. Follow-up visits by the Environmental Enforcement Team provided further evidence of the continued disregard by the owner of the Councils formal actions requiring the waste to be removed.
Following an investigation into complaints about noise, an Abatement Notice was served which was not appealed.
Between February and November 2022, multiple recordings of a dog barking were submitted, all of which identified contraventions of the Abatement Notice which had been served.
Further visits from Environmental Health Officers took place and letters were sent to the resident who was advised that they must comply with the Abatement Notice that had been served and what the implications were if there was non-compliance.
Complaints about the barking of the dog continued throughout 2023 and the Abatement Notice was ignored.
Given the non-compliance on both issues and the detrimental effects on the community, the matter was taken to Bradford Magistrates Court, resulting in a successful prosecution.
A fine of £1320, plus a statutory surcharge of £528 were issued. Costs were also awarded of £486.00 for the waste enforcement, £1047 for the noise enforcement and legal costs of £1685. A Court Order was issued requiring the removal of the waste within 21 days.
Cllr Sarah Ferriby, Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Healthy People and Places said, “Bradford Council remains committed to ensuring a clean and safe environment for all residents. Non-compliance with Community Protection and Noise Abatement Notices will be rigorously addressed to safeguard our communities.”
