Two-year fight over noisy factory's neighbours' right to sleep could soon be over

Friday, 19 November 2021

Silverstream resident Helen Chapman moved into her dream home only to discover the 24/7 noise from the neighbouring Farrah's factory. (First published March 16, 2019)

Upper Hutt residents who have been kept awake for 19 months by a noisy nearby factory that has been breaking the law hope they'll soon be able to sleep through the night, as they wait to find out whether the company will get resource consent.

Equipment at the Farrah's flatbread manufacturer in Silverstream has been consistently operating at noise levels above what is allowed in the city’s district plan. The company says it will fix the problem by April 2022, but wants retrospective consent for an over-height silo, and to keep breaching noise limits, in the meantime.

Neighbours of the Kiln St factory say the constant droning from its ceiling fans and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVac) is making them sick. They want Farrah's to have shut overnight until it has a permanent solution.

But Farrah's says if it’s forced to close at night it won't be able to fulfil contracted orders, which would have a “catastrophic” impact on the business and its 100-odd employees.

Farrah's managing director Jovan Čanak said i the company was doing everything it could to fix the problem.

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The Farrah's factory in Upper Hutt has been the subject of at least 200 noise complaints during the past two years.

What happens next is now in the hands of independent commissioner Robert Schofield, who heard evidence from Farrah’s, its opponents and the Upper Hutt City Council at a resource consent hearing over the matter on November 10 and 11.

Residents said they first noticed a constant buzzing sound coming from the factory in March 2020.

Since then, many people in the area, including Field St resident Logan McLean, his partner Jane Derbyshire and their 11-year-old daughter, have struggled to sleep each night because the tonal noise penetrates through double glazing and reverberates through their walls.

Farrah's produces its popular wraps at the factory on Kiln St, in Silverstream.

Other neighbours, including Helen Chapman, who lives a few doors down from McLean and Derbyshire, said the noise had given them headaches, nausea and affected their ability to work.

The council had received at least 200 complaints about the noise from more than 30 people. It issued an abatement notice, in July 2020, requiring Farrah's to submit an acoustic report, prepared by a qualified expert to identify noise sources and mitigation options.

However, testing by noise consultants at properties surrounding the factory since recorded humming from the HVac system at up to 51 decibels at night. The district plan only permits noise up to 40db in suburban areas at night.

Helen Chapman has struggled to sleep and had her health impacted from the noise coming from Farrah's.

In November 2019, Farrah's built a 15.3-metre silo on the site. The district plan requires such structures more than 12m tall to have resource consent, but Farrah’s said it was not aware at the time that it breached regulations.

Flour is delivered into the silo multiple times per week. Residents say the process is very loud and tests have concluded it can reach 71db – well above the 50db daytime limit specified in the district plan.

Farrah's lawyer Morgan Slyfield argued the company should get resource consent because it had been a good neighbour and had sought solutions to the noise problem.

The company had set up temporary barriers between the HVac and nearby properties. Noise consultant Nigel Lloyd, of Acousafe, gave evidence that this would reduce the noise until equipment that would permanently fix the problem arrived from overseas next year.

However, Michael Halstead, a noise consultant with Marshall Day hired by the council, said he had been unable to determine whether the proposed solution would be sufficient.

Residents had doubts because mitigation measures Lloyd had previously recommended had failed to make a difference, they said. “I sincerely hope [they] work. I’m not holding my breath,” Ian Leask, who can hear the droning from his Dunns St home, told the commissioner.

Derbyshire, a former lawyer, said trying to get the breaches remedied had turned into a second full-time job. “We the residents have not broken the law, but it appears that the obligation lies with us to prove the impact on us.”

Upper Hutt City councillor Angela McLeod later said in an interview after the hearing that she trusted the commissioner to make a fair decision.

However, if it had been up to her, she would have facilitated an informal meeting between residents, Farrah's and the council to resolve the matter months ago. “I think it’s taken too long to get to this point,” McLeod said.

Council chief executive Peter Kelly acknowledged the process had been “lengthy and difficult” for affected residents.

The “evidence-based and collaborative approach” it took to enforcement against Farrah's may not have been what residents expected, he said in a statement, but stood by this strategy.

“Being more heavy-handed with Farrah’s would likely have extended this process further and been of greater cost to all parties, including affected residents and Council (and therefore ratepayers).”