By Donal McMahon

Copyright belfastlive

A DUP councillor has criticised a council’s “noise nuisance” warning on a Loyal Orders flute band on claims of over-beating a Lambeg Drum. Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council has sent a warning letter to Royal Hillsborough Protestant Boys over an alleged nuisance level beating of a Lambeg Drum. But, the flute band says they don’t have one. The council’s environment committee this week has now been asked to review how it progresses noise nuisance complaints in light of recent claims against the village band. READ MORE: Judge rules Max the dog is banned breed and sets two-month destruction deadline. READ MORE: NI council’s Irish street name policy ‘decent’ compared to ‘crazy’ Belfast, says councillor. Downshire East DUP councillor, Andrew Gowan said: “I want to raise an issue with a complaint made to Royal Hillsborough Protestant Boys. “It is not a matter whether the complaint is valid or not. But they have been warned over noise levels from a Lambeg Drum, but the band don’t even own one. A simple check by council officers on Facebook would have been able to see that.” He added: “How are these matters reported and how do we respond? This is about the overall process, I’m not looking to get into the right or wrongs of the complaints, but perhaps we need to look at how we manage such complaints and the sending out of letters.” A Lambeg Drum, which can be used in Orange Order parades is considered one of the loudest acoustic instruments in the world. The Local Democracy Reporting Service contacted the Royal Hillsborough Protestant Boys for comment. A spokesperson said: “We are annoyed and upset due to the fact that we only practice once a week from 6.30pm to 7.30pm and the majority of the band are children. “We have never had anyone complain about us before. There definitely isn’t a Lambeg Drum involved, the largest we have is a Bass Drum, which is about a third the size of a Lambeg. “We are very active in the community and do a lot of family events and support vulnerable people in the village. We are just saddened. We are not people who go out to cause harm or injury to anybody. My only real worry is that the complaint is from someone who is intolerant of our culture. “We are actually a band made up of members of different religions and atheists. We are not all Protestants and we are not all boys, we have girls in the band too. “The majority of people in our country want to get on with each other, but there is a minority who keep division going. We would have preferred the person who made the complaint to come and discuss it with us instead of going to the council and we could have come to some agreement. The LDRS has seen the ‘Noise Disturbance’ letter sent by LCCC on concerns of noise from Hillsborough Orange Hall. It reads: “The complaint alleges that once or twice a week, up to three hours at a time, the volume created by the Lambeg Drum practice is causing a material disturbance within their property.” It adds: “If the council is satisfied that a noise nuisance exists, it has a legal duty to serve a Noise Abatement Notice on the persons responsible.” The LDRS understands that the Royal Hillsborough Protestant Boys is due to meet with officers of LCCC this week. In chambers, a council officer responded: “There are no set levels of noise nuisance, it is subjective to the environment of a city or rural setting. Also, it is about how long or how often the noise is occurring. “When some people make a complaint they may not be clear on what is causing the noise and may have complained about a Lambeg Drum, when it might not be that.” He added: “The legislation is written for ‘Joe Bloggs’ it does not take into account a particular issue such as tinnitus for example. People can complain anonymously on the council website of a noise nuisance. It is then a matter of gathering up what evidence there is before any matter would potentially lead to a court hearing.” For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.