Ringing Forums

Most Associations have someone in an Officer role who can help a tower captain to talk to a vicar about handling noise complaints. It’s useful to have an Officer of the Association to support because that keeps it relatively objective (rather than locally emotional) and demonstrates the level of organisation in ringing which aims to keep bells ringing without unduly upsetting the neighbours. So my first suggestion for your friend would be to talk to a district or Association officer and ask for support to set up a meeting with the vicar to discuss the complaint and the impact on ringing. There are some helpful guidelines on the cccbr website (https://cccbr.org.uk/resources/stewardship-and-management/dealing-with-complaints/ ) which can also help but if the current position is a kind of stand off with a lack of communication then it makes sense to bring in someone more objective if they want to re-open the discussion.

cheers Lucy, from what my friend has told me this does seem to have morphed into something of a standoffish situatation, I've notified the local association secretary and he is going to gather intelligence and look into it!

Yes! In the small world of ringing the General Secretary has asked me (and a couple of others) for some background and as this is a situation I know reasonably well we will see whether it can be resolved.
I have never heard of it being about a local complaint and I think it had more to do with the ringers not being part of the congregation (from my experience with this vicar and a local ringer who wanted to try to get ringing going again) but let’s see whether a two year gap since the last try brings a new opportunity.

Having read the items my view is that the vicar is anti ringing and all he needed was an excuse, they exist!!! We had a similar complainer at a towet I run, ended up with the local council who agrreed that ringing for Sunday service , Weddings , Funeral and for special occasions was appropriate as was ringing on practice night , and one visiting band for an hour once a week, also on one occasion per month that could be extended to allow a full peal or call change competition. One complaint should not close a tower up , particularly where you have sound contol.

that sounds excellent, two years is quite a while and I hope this time there will be some success. It's been a very long time since I've rung at said tower so it will be wonderful to return when everything is sorted.

What is not understood by people who have not been irritated by sound is that it is one of the few experiences that is cumulative / incremental in it's ability to cause true distress. Most things in life are transient experiences but sound is insidiously destructive. Fortunately, it's one of relatively few things in life that triggers our Pavlovian Response. If a neighbour's dog yaps for half an hour it becomes irritating. Over time, it yapping 20 minutes is enough, then 10 sets you on edge, then 5, until, finally, the very first yap sets you into a self-destructive spiral of antagonism. A lot will have been "suffered" before the first complaint is registered. Then, if nothing changes, the situation spirals way out of control. With bells, as with that yapping dog, unless something changes at the first instance a complaint is raised, it will only get worse. Mediation is essential with "noise complaints". More so that with any other neighbour dispute. The first step is to uncover the core facts and accept that something needs to be done to alter the circumstances in some way as soon as humanly possible. Without such steps the complainant's perception of their grievances will worsen. Coincidentally, the only bell-related complaint at my home tower for decades arose just a few weeks ago when the bells were heard over an abnormally long period and at an unusual time of day / day of the week. It was nipped in the bud by clarity of thought on the part of the Rector, and required no change whatsoever in the use of the bells. However, Plan B was ready - an immediate, modest reduction in frequency and duration of the periods the bells would be heard and the dust was blown off our TWO sets of muffles. Preparedness for potential complaints allows rapid and amicable resolution. Failure to be prepared leads to inaction, compounding the problem, or a knee-jerk reaction that can satisfy none. My qualifications for passing on the above? Decades of involvement with complaints in many forms, and 30+ years involvement with the Soltau bells.