A crowing cockerel has been served with a noise abatement notice - asking his owner to reduce his decibels. Rocky the male chicken has fallen fowl of his local council - after a complaint from a neighbour.
His siren call apparently ruffled the feathers of a local who complained about the noise to the local authority. Owner Julie Smith received a noise abatement notice from the council's Environmental Protection team.
The letter instructed her that she must 'take action' to reduce the decibels. Despite owning chickens, ducks and cockerels for 15 years at her home in the market town of Framlingham, Suffolk, she may now be forced to surrender Rocky.
Determined to keep Rocky she's now started a campaign on social media in opposition to the complaint. The protest #saverory has attracted 125 messages of support. This is the second time a neighbour has complained about her birds, though unlike last time she says she will not be rehoming Rocky.
Julie said: "There has been another complaint, so I just thought 'oh, sod it,' this time, I am not standing for it. Framlingham is basically an old market town, it is perfectly natural for people in Framlingham to have or own ducks and grow their own vegetables."
An East Suffolk Council spokesperson said: “This case is the subject of an ongoing investigation by our environmental protection team and, as such, it would be inappropriate to comment in detail at this stage. All complaints of statutory nuisance are investigated according to the Environmental Protection Act 1990, which places a duty on local authorities to investigate complaints of noise disturbance and a requirement to serve a noise abatement notice if a statutory nuisance exists.
“As part of the investigation, officers will usually discuss the issue with concerned parties, using in-person visits, log sheets and noise monitoring equipment to identify if the complaint is justified and, where appropriate, to find a resolution through informal means.
“In some circumstances, like this one, a deferral option on the notice allows a further seven days for the issue to be addressed before the abatement notice is served.”
