An odour can be defined as a smell that is detectable.
People have different abilities to detect and tolerances of odours, and as such, we are often faced with the difficult task of establishing whether the odour is bad enough to cause a 'nuisance' or simply causes annoyance.
Complaints of odour are investigated under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and may be associated with:
· Fumes or gases from dwellings
· Waste by-products from industrial or trade or business premises
· Accumulations or deposits of rubbish or noxious matter.
Odour is subjective. What is offensive to one person may be acceptable to another. Factors that are examined when considering the potential existence of a statutory nuisance are:
· type
of odour
· wind strength and direction
· duration of odour
· time of day
· how often it occurs
Environmental Health staff use their experience and judgement to decide if the odour might be a nuisance to the average person and whether a statutory nuisance exists. In addition, the source needs to be determined clearly as the cause of the odour.
In practice, the odour would need to be a persistent problem, which interferes substantially with a persons well-being, comfort or the enjoyment of their property.
Types of odour
Whilst they may be easily detectable, annoying, disagreeable and troublesome, not all odours can be dealt with as a statutory nuisance. There may be insufficient evidence to prove that the odour is unreasonable enough to cause a nuisance or that, despite someone's best intentions, the nature of the work they are undertaking means that the odour is unavoidable.
This may seem unfair, however in such situations, Environmental Health Departments have no powers to pursue a course of formal action. Environmental Health Departments must consider the following:
1. Odour from commercial processes
Any industrial or commercial operation has a defence against statutory nuisance known as the 'The Best Practicable Means' defence.
This means that if they are doing everything reasonable within their financial means and within the scope of current technical knowledge to prevent causing a problem, requiring additional measures to abate a statutory nuisance would be unenforceable.
2. Permitted Processes
In the case of a business with a permit, it is the compliance with the conditions attached to the permit that is assessed rather than statutory nuisance.
3. Odour from land
In dealing with complaints relating to the spreading of manure or slurry on the land, Environmental Health Departments follow the informal advice provided by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), which is that 'manure or similar should be ploughed in within 72 hours of it being spread.'
It is accepted that there is to be a certain degree of odour arising from this activity. If odour is experienced after this period and its source is identifiable, Environmental Health Departments can investigate to establish whether it is causing a statutory nuisance.
For more information or to make a complaint contact the Environmental Protection Team on 01223 457890, or report a problem.
