What’s The Noisiest Street In Invercargill?

Thursday, 17 April 2025, 8:05 pm
Article: Matthew Rosenberg - Local Democracy Reporter

Noisy neighbours tend to be inevitable no matter where you live, but one Invercargill street has claimed the crown for being the rowdiest.

In response to a LGOIMA request, Invercargill City Council released data on the noise complaints it dealt with over the past 12 months.

Of the 820 complaints received, the most came from Newbie St in the suburb of Heidelberg, with a total of 23.

That was closely followed by Ettrick St with 22 complaints, and Centre St and Tay St with 21 complaints each.

Council manager environmental services Gillian Cavanagh said the most common complaints in the city related to loud music or bass.

Noise from mowing, maintenance and music was expected, but not to excess, she said.

“In the past 12 months, 14 complaints have resulted in equipment being seized and 228 complaints have resulted in an excessive noise direction being served.”

Local Democracy Reporting spoke to residents of Newbie St — a 600m suburban street home to one playground and an abundance of townhouses.

While music was not highlighted as a major issue, disturbance from cars was common.

Distinct tyre marks could be seen on the street, with one resident saying burnouts typically happened on Friday or Saturday around midnight.

“They do burnouts here quite often, sometimes I hear them hit the curb,” the person said.

The council confirmed its excessive noise complaints did not include noise from vehicles on the road, which were dealt with by the police.

In the event an excessive noise direction was issued, the occupant was required to reduce the disturbance immediately.

If they breached again within 72 hours, an infringement was issued, and 18 of those had been handed out across the city in the past year.

Barking dogs did not fall under the council’s noise control policy because they were covered by the Dog Control Act.

The noisiest month by number of complaints was December.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air

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