A GROUP of residents affected by ongoing noise and light pollution on a Monmouth building site have resorted to police action to protect themselves.

A letter to Monmouth Police Station, signed by a number of residents who live near the new Monmouth Comprehensive School building, say that contractors working on the site have in recent weeks worked late into the night, making “intolerable and unnecessary light and noise pollution in what is a quiet residential area.”

Work began on the new school last year, but since then residents looking onto the building site say the disruption has gone on “intolerably long”.

Residents of The Burgage, which looks onto the site, have experienced noise and light pollution caused by breaking concrete bases, rock-crushing to produce aggregate on site, asbestos roofing being removed metres from residents’ gardens, gardens full of diesel fumes from ill-maintained heavy machinery and a lack of information about when quiet times will be.

The issue came to a head on the night of Thursday 9th November when contractors worked late into the night. On that night, work was only halted at approximately 2am when one resident, Andy Smith, complained at the site gates due to the disruption.

“I had been disturbed for hours with intolerable noise levels, bright lights through closed curtains and by vibration causing my pillows to throb,” said Mr Smith. “With a severely ill wife, this was intolerable so I went to the site gates at 2am and asked them to stop. I spoke with Paul Bevis (from Interserve) who claimed that they had permission to work.

“I told him that he did not have permission to make this level of noise and light disturbance in a residential area. He told me that he was monitoring the noise and it was not intolerable or unusual.

“I told him that I was the one with a vibrating pillow (which had not occurred before), so he was simply wrong. He refused to stop the noise so I left to return home and call the police. The extreme noise stopped before I got back into my house.”

Vivien Mitchell, another resident of The Burgage, says she has been forced to move out of her home for two days each week at great personal expense due to ongoing disturbance, while many others have lost sleep.

After residents were notified that work would once again take place late into the night on 15th November, a letter addressed to Monmouth Police Station was delivered, describing the concerns of residents.

The letter, requesting police protection stated: “The nocturnal noise and light pollution experienced recently are, we believe, illegal, they have resulted in unnecessary harm to individuals.

“We believe that the actions of Interserve constitute de facto assault,” the letter adds.

Despite initially being told that work would take place into that night, work finished at 10.30pm.

Terms on the application for the new school set out a number of conditions on the build, including working hours. These are 7am to 6pm between Monday and Friday and 8am to 2pm on Saturdays.

A spokesperson from MCC said: “Our contractor takes its relationship with neighbours, local residents and the local authority very seriously and has used specific mail drops, site information boards, a Facebook page and even personal visits to talk to the community.

“This is especially so over the last few weeks when potential construction tasks may have led to work continuing beyond core working hours. One specific operation which was dependant on weather prolonged the working day and this was communicated to residents using a number of methods in advance of this activity commencing.

“As part of the school’s planning approval a construction traffic management plan was developed which stated that certain building operations may need to happen outside normal working hours.

“The document formed part of the planning submission and approval - all documents were in the public realm once it was registered as an application.

“It should be emphasised that this requirement to work beyond core hours has happened on few occasions and that there are currently no foreseen plans for further construction tasks to complete the school outside the main agreed hours.

The contractor has adopted a lot of site measures using industry best practice to mitigate light glare and to minimise sound leakage using acoustic screens. In addition, modern, quieter, less pollutant machinery has been employed, as well as dust busters to control dust from the site.

“Our environmental health team has received a few complaints in recent months which it is currently considering.

“This includes a letter from residents received on 15th November regarding construction-related activities giving rise to noise disturbance and also the adverse impact from lights used by the contractors when working at night.

“We understand that particular concern has arisen due to noise from work undertaken at night to provide a hard-wearing finished surface to concrete floors before the concrete sets.

“Environmental health officers met with the contractor’s project manager on 16th November to discuss issues and measures to mitigate any difficulties.”

The school is expected to open in September 2018.