CROWING cockerels belonging to an elderly couple near Newtown have been branded a nuisance by council officers.
Now Roy and Val Ryelands, of Rock House in Bwlch-y-Ffridd, have lodged an appeal against an abatement notice served by Powys County Council on September 29, 2010, on the grounds that their cockerels were causing a nuisance to nearby residents.
Representing Powys Council, Jonathan Salmon told Welshpool Magistrates: “It is very easy to be flippant or comical about it.
“But Powys County Council each year receives a number of complaints in relation to crowing cockerels.”
He said that in this case the magistrates should decide whether or not statutory nuisance has occurred, is recurring or is likely to re-occur.
The couple, who own more than 50 hens and five cockerels, were issued with the notice after Environment Officers had carried out investigations into the noise levels of the crowing following a complaint from their neighbours, Mr and Mrs Morgan.
The court was played four different examples of the cockerels crowing by Daniel Stykuc, a technical officer in Environmental Health at Powys County Council, who had installed recording equipment in the Morgan’s bedroom following their complaint.
The court heard two separate recordings from August 16, at 2.42am in the morning, when there were 18 crows in four minutes, peaking at 59 decibels, and later that morning at 4.13am with 26 crows in three minutes with a 58 decibel reading.
A further two recordings were played to demonstrate the frequency, sound and level of the cockerels’ crows.
Mr Salmon said that the World Health Organisation (WHO) classed any time before 7am as night-time and that the levels of decibels heard were also higher than those set out by WHO guidelines, which Mr Stykuc agreed with.
Mr Stykuc told the court that on visiting the Morgan’s property early one morning he had concerns after just sitting in his car.
He said: “My concerns in trying to ignore the noise is that it is a short, high frequency.
“You cannot predict how long it is going to last for, and it’s difficult to ignore. I came to the opinion that a statutory nuisance exists.
“I could hear cockerels crowing nearby, I counted 112 crows while I was there for 20 minutes. I then left the car and walked away from the property towards Adfa. I stood approximately 200 yards away and I could hear the same thing.”
Representing Roy Ryelands, 67, and Val Ryelands, 69, Paulinus Barnes raised concerns that a window had been opened intentionally by the Morgans when they triggered the recording equipment, which could have exaggerated the noise levels.
He then quizzed Mr Stykuc on the serving of the abatement notice.
He asked whether Mr Stykuc had visited the Ryelands’ property to determine whether it was a working farm or a normal residence. He answered “no”.
Mr Barnes then asked if Rock House was a working farm“would the crowing be a statutory nuisance?”
Mr Stykuc replied, “No I wouldn’t say that.”
He showed the witness a picture of a yard at the property which was said to have agricultural machinery on view, and asked: “Do you accept this is a working farm?”
Mr Stykuc answered: “Yes absolutely.”
The case continues.