A Gurnard woman who failed to abate the noise of her shrieking parrots has been taken to court and fined £261.
65-year-old Deborah Hall, of Jordan Close in Gurnard, appeared before the Isle of Wight Magistrates Court last week (8th October) charged with contravene/fail to comply with an abatement notice under the Environmental Protection Act of 1990.
A prosecutor on behalf of the Isle of Wight Council told the court that back in 2022 the Environmental Health Office at the Isle of Wight Council received a noise complaint regarding parrot noises on a residential street in Gurnard.
Officers from the Isle of Wight Council visited Gurnard and spoke to Hall who said she had a total of 4 parrots which were kept both indoors and outdoors throughout the day. A short while later, Hall managed to rehome 2 of the parrots leaving just Harriett and Milo.
On 7th July 2023, a notice was issued that told Hall she had to abate the noise by the 23rd August, however this didn’t happen.
Specialist noise monitoring equipment was installed in neighbouring properties, but the court heard how neighbours on Jordan Close once heard north of 200 shrieks on a single day. The noise continued until 13th February 2024 when one of Hall’s birds passed away.
Defending herself, Hall said that she had tried everything she could to accommodate the neighbours and that the parrots aren’t just animals you can ‘switch on and off’.
The prosecutor noted that since February the noise has decreased substantially.
For failing to comply with the abatement notice, Hall was fined £261 and ordered to pay £150 costs and a £104 surcharge fee.
Beautiful plumage.
With all the various noises with pets, speeding vehicles and
Motorbikes etc, yet a court visit for a parrot making a noise,
how sad, what is becoming of this world.
Lock her in a cage and see how long it takes her to screech.
Birds belong in freedom, not sat in tiny cages.
Open all cage doors and put them back in their native country, free to fly, not a life behind bars.
The dictatorship for Britain comes but a day closer. What’s the betting those who complained are on the whelk
Or they are councillors or friemds of