The developer of a new office block in Brighton have been told to make sure builders stick to the agreed working hours.
Since work began on the Portland Building on the corner of Church Street and Portland Street in the North Laine, noisy work has taken place early in the morning.
Neighbours have also complained about access to roads around the North Laine site being blocked by construction vehicles for long periods of time.
Now, Brighton and Hove City Council has served an official enforcement notice on developers MRP, ordering them to get their construction contractors Coramore to cease work outside the hours agreed when planning permission was granted.
Peter Wingate-Saul from the North Laine Community Association said: “Neighbouring residents have been upset for some months about noisy work on this site outside permitted hours, particularly early in the morning and also about access to their roads being blocked by construction vehicles for extended periods.
“At least one resident in Windsor Street is dependent upon frequent visits by their carer.
“We first raised the residents’ concerns with the council in March and with the Considerate Contractors’ Scheme in May.
“The problems continued and the council finally served the Breach of Condition Notice which the site’s operators are now legally obliged to comply with.
“Obviously the notice has only been in force for a short while, but we are hopeful that the contractors will take their legal obligation seriously.”
The order, which MRP was given until the end of August to comply with, says work can only take place between 8am and 6pm from Monday to Friday and 8am to 1pm on Saturday, with no working on Sundays and Bank Holidays, as stipulated by a condition on the planning permission.
A spokesperson for MRP said: “The construction works are being delivered by main contractor, Corramore. Once the enforcement notice was brought to MRP’s attention, we swiftly engaged with the contractor to investigate.
“We have subsequently been advised steps have been undertaken to ensure works are conducted in strict accordance within the approved working hours and we will continue to monitor this.
“It is important to us as a developer that any construction works are conducted with respect and understanding of neighbouring residents and businesses and apologise for the inconvenience caused.”
