Love thy neighbour? Auckland's noisiest streets revealed

Luke St in Otahuhu had 198 noise complaints, making it Auckland's second-noisiest street.Picture / Richard Robinson

Booming basslines ... party animals partying hard ... even noisy dishwashing - these are the sounds of Auckland's rowdiest streets.

In a Weekend Herald investigation on noise control, we asked councils to reveal where the most complaints were registered by their abatement team.

And while the karaoke bars and 24-hour cacophony of Queen St put it at the top of the list with 226, a number of suburban streets pushed it for the top spot.

Luke St in Otahuhu had 198 noise complaints against it - about four a week - in the year to March, putting it second behind Queen St.

It had more complaints than Karangahape Rd and Ponsonby Rd and roads around Auckland's largest stadiums including Eden Park, Mt Smart and Vector Arena.

But the tale behind the complaints shows that when neighbours can't take noise, they really can't take it - most were from one household about another.

Starforth Place in Henderson, with 195 complaints, was the third worst, and again complaints against one "problem" household pushed it up the rankings.

In Otahuhu, one end of Luke St backs on to the Southern Motorway but it is not the traffic that is being complained about.

Troy Nathan, who has lived in his Housing NZ flat with his 8-year-old daughter for about five years, says 88 complaints have been made against him in 18 months.

In 14 of the cases, the 45-year-old was issued with excessive noise notices, but he says he has never received a fine or had equipment seized.

Most of the complaints appear to have been made by a 74-year-old neighbour, who told the Weekend Herald he had also complained about two other flats.

Mr Nathan, nephew of former All Black Waka Nathan, says he has "big parties" only once a year, with about 50 guests, but admits to having "a few beers" with about four or five friends in his garage more regularly.

The beneficiary admits he has been noisy but says he has learned to keep the noise down. However, the the neighbour phones noise control even when he is talking quietly or watching television, he claims.

"I'm on first-name basis with noise control. I can't even wash the dishes without getting complaints."

Mr Nathan says he has complained to police about the man but they did not do anything. His elderly neighbour, who did not want to be named, said he sometimes calls noise control several times a week as Mr Nathan's parties "start in the morning and go all the way into the night".

Another neighbour said she had considered moving because of the noise from Mr Nathan's house.

"Usually when they're partying, there are young kids around. I've seen so many different people turn up. It's not a healthy environment for them to be in."

In Starforth Place, an individual house was the target for most of the 195 complaints. One woman, who did not want to be named, said she believed a couple and their two preschoolers lived at the house.

"When I ring noise control I just put the phone out the window and it's 'boom, boom, boom'. You can hear everything. We get up early to go to work and sometimes they're still [going]."

Rowdiest streets
1. Queen St, Auckland Central: 226 complaints
2. Luke St, Otahuhu: 198
3. Starforth Place, Henderson: 195
4. Weymouth Rd, Manurewa: 175
5. Evandale St, Glen Innes: 168
6. New North Rd, Kingsland: 165
7. Ponsonby Rd, Ponsonby: 135
8. Williamson Ave, Grey Lynn: 126
9. Beach Rd, East Coast Bays: 124
10 = Karangahape Rd, Auckland Central, and Great North Rd, Waitakere: 118

* The noise control figures were obtained from Auckland's four largest councils under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act.