A LOCAL authority has been criticised for its inaction over complaints about noise pollution at a football pitch. 

A nearby resident of the East Dunbartonshire Council-run pitch complained to The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) after their young child was left unable to sleep.

The neighbour, referred to as C, reported that the noise levels and foul language by the users of the pitch, which has not been revealed, were reaching "unreasonable levels".

They said this happened particularly later in the evening before it closed at 10pm, and kept their child awake. 

In response to C's concerns, the council amended their letting terms and conditions to ensure that there were clear rules prohibiting unreasonable noise levels and language by renters of the pitch.

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However, the SPSO said the only steps that the council had taken to address this was to send a general email to all renters of pitches they ran, warning that leases may be removed if terms and conditions were breached by unreasonable behaviour.

Given that the neighbour had been providing clear reports and recordings of specific times and behaviours, the SPSO upheld their complaint.

They said: "We considered it was unreasonable for the council not to take any steps to raise these issues with the specific users responsible.

"We also considered that the council had failed to provide sufficient explanations to C of the kind of evidence that they would consider and how they would investigate their concerns." 

Following the investigation, the council has been asked to provide evidence that they have implemented the recommendations made by the SPSO by the deadline set.

These include explaining to C what they need to do to report unreasonable use of the pitches going forward, and when receiving evidence of misuse of council facilities, take appropriate action to ensure the users abide by the letting terms and conditions.

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When receiving evidence of misuse of facilities, the council should take appropriate action to ensure the users responsible abide by the letting terms and conditions.

Gerry Cornes, chief executive of East Dunbartonshire Council, said: "Following C's complaint and after a thorough investigation involving various teams across the council we amended our Lettings Terms and Conditions - clearly outlining our stance on excessive noise and foul language.

"As our correspondence with the SPSO states, we believed it was important that all pitch users were alerted to this change and told that we had received a complaint.

"The email we sent reminded them of their responsibilities to neighbouring residents and made it clear that such behaviour would not be tolerated and withdrawal of lets would be considered if we continued to receive complaints.

"The council considers it vital to make facilities available to football teams and other users to improve fitness and mental wellbeing, however, users need to take heed of our policies and refrain from causing disturbance to local residents.

"We welcome any further evidence from C or others in future if any users clearly breach the acceptable use of the pitch and we will ensure any action taken in future is explained fully to the complainant."