England again -- this time it's wind chimes
From
This Is London:
Council slaps noise ban on man's tiny wind chime
A council has ordered a man to move a tiny wind chime from his back garden following an investigation that cost more than £1,000.
David Bavington was stunned to receive an official letter claiming that the 1" diameter chime was a 'statutory nuisance' following a complaint.
And he was warned he had to take it down - or be served with a noise abatement order and face legal action.
Ironically Mr Bavington, 57, and his wife Sheila bought the chime to create a feeling of calm while they were sitting in the garden of their £300,000 detached home in Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Warwickshire, with noisy airliners flying overhead on final approach to Coventry airport just over a mile away.
But, instead, it has landed them in a two-month legal row with officials at Rugby Borough Council, which has spent £1,000 writing letters, phoning the couple and sending two officers out to listen to the chime because of a complaint that it tinkled too loudly in windy weather.
A bit more:
The Bavingtons' next-door neighbour, Robin Trigger, refused to say whether he had made the complaint. He added: "I have absolutely no comment to make."
Sheesh! To spend that much over such a picayune thing...
Classic nanny-stateism at its finest.
Posted by DaveH at January 6, 2007 9:01 PM