Furious neighbours complain about ‘annoying and intrusive’ noise – from a library

Locals have blasted the “bloody racket” regularly coming from Taunton Library in Somerset, forcing them to close windows and doors

A council is taking action after furious neighbours complained about “annoying” and “intrusive” noise – coming from a library.

Locals have blasted the “bloody racket” regularly coming from Taunton Library in Somerset, forcing them to close windows and doors.

Libraries are famously places of quiet but the building has sparked complaints of disruption in flats and businesses over the street.

Local shops say the “constant drone” is so bad that it has cost them customers and sales.

The problem is being caused by a new boiler installed at the library last year – said to be making an ‘awful’ and ‘intrusive’ din.

Bookworms inside are unaware of the noise when the gas boilers are fired up before and during opening hours.

Consultants were brought in who confirmed noise levels were causing disruption to residents in flats and businesses over Paul Street.

The council has now proposed solutions to cut the noise.

Pete Robertson, 47, owner of nearby Zero Waste Shopping described the noise as being a “constant drone”.

His shop is located in front of the library – and during the winter they had to shut the doors to stop the noise coming in, affecting their sales.

He added: “You couldn’t hold a conversation here with the customers and a lot of communication goes on here because it is an old-fashioned shop where people come and ask us for everything so it is quite important that we communicate with people.

“It was getting really awkward for us to hear them and them to hear us. We had the door shut at times because of that, which is not ideal.

“If your door is not wide open, people are less likely to come in.

“We were at the stage where we had to keep the door closed, and it means we were a bit slower operating here and also missing out on passing trade.”

He said the building landlord put a complaint to the council, which “acted quickly” in sending someone to check the noise levels.

Pete said: “They said the noise was too loud. But that was ages ago. They acknowledged it, confirmed it was a problem and now I don’t know.

“The main problem was in the winter and it has been forgotten because it has been such a hot summer and it is not running all the time.

“It is going to be a year passed when they start running it again next winter and by the looks of it they haven’t done anything.”

Karen Tomkins, 54, owner of Fine Art and Framing in Paul Street added that the noise can be “quite loud.”

She said: “It is a bit of a racket. It is a constant air conditioning noise that is just chucked out.

“I don’t tend to notice it when it kicks up but then after it has been going for a while and then it suddenly stops you think ‘it is really quiet’.”

Planners at Somerset Council have now granted conditional permission for a replacement for the flue dilution system to resolve the noise issue.

Karen approved of the solution but questioned the council’s prior decision to install a ‘noisy’ boiler plant in the building.

She said: “How can they have put something like that in and not known about the amount of noise that it made before it was put in?

“Now it is going to cost how much to put it right.

“That’s my issue in the situation.”

Amanda Herne, 54, a hairdresser at Reds Hair Salon, walks past the library every day to go to work.

Even though her hair salon is not facing the library, she described the noise as being “quite the racket”.

She said: “It is bloody annoying and noisy but we aren’t actually affected in here but I can understand if you have got businesses along the road it is not acceptable.

“If you are working in the offices along the street in the summer with the windows open, it must be quite annoying.

“It is a continuous noise. If we heard it in here with the clients, with what we do, it just would not be acceptable.”

Library bosses can now arrange for a much quieter stainless steel system to discharge boiler gases at a high level.

The council rules that the alterations will “not cause unacceptable harm” to the building’s appearance or the street scene.

A spokesperson for Somerset Council said: “We have received a number of complaints about noise from the flue system at Taunton Library, and we are working to get this resolved as soon as possible.

“Noise experts were commissioned and a planning application submitted to replace the Flue Dilution System with a flue that will discharge at a high level to resolve noise issues. Consent was granted on 12 September.”