Fence advice needed - I want to block my noisy neighbor out

iDarren · Oct 30, 2011 3:26 am

Hi all,

I have the neighbor from hell. He is a pig. In the last 18 months he has had a devastating effect on my life with non stop noise (bass pumping etc at sickening levels). He is unemployed and has no respect for his neighbors.

We have a old tin fence between our properties.

I am wondering if I can build a big, thick and high earth bag fence along my side of the fenceline. I would not remove the existing fence, but I would build it right up against the tin.

Can I do this? And how high can I go?

I am in Victoria.

Any advice welcome.

gumby · Oct 30, 2011 7:29 am

Do you know if it's a rental property or owned?

If it's a rental then you can make a complaint to the Estate Agent.

Otherwise there are guidelines as to noise allowances and you may be able to contact the local council?

Uncle Arfur · Oct 30, 2011 2:33 pm

Why have the expense and inconvenience of your dirt-bag neighbor when you can take steps to curtail their behaviour?

A call to the Council or local cop-shop would get you pointed in the right direction

How Hard Can it Be · Oct 30, 2011 8:17 pm

I agree regarding getting the noise stopped - there are noise restrictions that he needs to adhere to otherwise police can become involved. We had a slight noise issue with a far-off neighbour (actually it is a business) but the noise travelled through the still of the night. I rang our council who told us it was a police matter, but they advised us that essentially you should not be able to hear noise from other properties once inside your property (Of course, you make allowances for a bit of noise here and there, and the odd party on occasion, but not continual loud noise - that would drive me nuts too). Anyway so I rang the police who said they had a huge file of reports on this 'neighbour' and that it was being addressed. Thankfully, we no longer have that issue.

So yes, I recommend following up your rights etc via the council or police.

But in answer to your question, you would also need to ring your council to find out height restrictions etc. We also wanted a higher wall/fence line along where our BBQ area would be and was told by our council that anything over 2m needed permits. They like to make sure it won't obstruct views or sunlight or create shadowing into neighbouring properties. As well as ensuring it will be structurally sound.

Good luck with the neighbour.

HHCIB

shackonthehill · Oct 30, 2011 10:27 pm

Hi IDarren

Not sure in Victoria but in our council here in Perth you cant go higher then 6ft without approval from the neighbour. We had a issue with our neighbour who wouldnt allow us to alter the height of the fence when we had the pool put in. So guess what the council told us to do. Come in a metre of the fence and build it ontop of the deck, which in our case we could go 2.1 metres off the top of the deck. Our deck is around a metre off the ground. There was not a thing our neighbour could do. It was worth it even though we lost a whole metre along our back fence. Did i say we too have the neighbour from hell who has hassled our tradies while our renos have been going on. The new fence has made it hard for her now though lol

zeitgeber · Oct 31, 2011 7:47 am

EPA Victoria
This booklet can help you find the best way to address common residential noise issues.

Also, the table on page 11 lists prohibited times for noisy equipment used on residential premises.

http://epanote2.epa.vic.gov.au/EPA/publications.nsf/2f1c2625731746aa4a256ce90001cbb5/1365d395884fced6ca257838001cb875/$FILE/406.4.pdf