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Barking Management - Appropriate Noise Standards and Definitive Assessment

This paper seeks to assist Local Government in the resolution of community bark-noise conflict. Excessive barking noise can be a nuisance in rural and suburban residential areas. Most barking problems can be resolved by skilful mediation together with the application of routine bark management protocols by competent Animal Management service providers. In the more difficult cases however, when resolution of the complaint can not be achieved by routine negotiation, council officers have no option but to executively decide whether or not the nuisance is real and then require one of the parties to provide the remedy.

This ultimate decision stage in the management of difficult barking complaint cases is impossible for local government to manage in a transparent, fair and evenhanded way unless the assessment of the nuisance level is be made objectively. It is also impossible to manage these cases successfully in the absence of noise tolerance standards that have been calibrated for this particular sound and are consistent with community opinion.