By Jessica Anstice
A new app has been invented for residents to complain about noisy neighbours.
‘The Noise App’ simply allows you to dob your neighbours in, as often as you wish.
The City of Casey has been trialling The Noise App since January.
“Council will evaluate the effectiveness of this, including the user experience, to determine if we will continue using it,” City of Casey mayor Amanda Stapledon said.
“Between January and 30 June 2019, we have had 104 noise cases reported to council via the app, 414 recordings and 157 public users.
“Council investigates certain types of noise complaints, such as those relating to dogs barking and the use of loud equipment during certain times, however it cannot investigate matters such as loud voices or shouting.”
Once the application is downloaded to a mobile device, it can be used to record the noise in 30 second grabs.
The recording captures the date, time and location before the file is sent directly to council’s database.
Once the information is submitted, council is notified on a desktop version of the app and via email.
“This app allows us to gain an accurate snapshot of the noise issue in question and assists officers to make quicker decisions about the need for further investigation, or to close the matter off,” Cr Stapledon said.
“It also replaces ‘paper diaries’ that officers previously used to capture this type of information.
“This technology is designed to help make things easier for our residents, and is in keeping with our vision to become a Smart City and another move toward making Casey the most liveable city.”
As for Cardinia, the shire is aware of the application however it is not being trailed at present.
“We are always looking for ways to improve and streamline our services, and we are currently reviewing any opportunities to implement this application into our reporting process,” a council spokesperson said.
Criticism from residents flooded social media after Star News’ posted about the new initiative.
One user called it “un Australian” and another said it was “dodgy”.
Noise complaints in Cardinia can be reported to council using the online form on their website at www.cardinia.vic.gov.au/servicerequest
