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City tower builder told to keep the noise down
Mira Bar-Hillel, Property Correspondent31 Jan 2008
A city developer has been banned from causing too much noise and disturbance after demolition work was likened to "a small earthquake".
The vibrations from the work for the "Helter Skelter Tower", or Pinnacle, were so bad the insurance company next door had to sue to get some peace.
For two months, bosses at Hiscox Syndicates had to put up with cracks in adjoining walls, water leaks and staff complaining of motion sickness. When their patience ran out they sued the developer, Arab Investments, for causing excessive noise, vibration, damage and obstruction to their headquarters at 1 Great St Helens.
A High Court judge granted Hiscox an injunction against the developer, saying it had not taken all proper and reasonable steps to avoid exceeding agreed vibration levels. Hiscox chief executive Bronek Masojada said: "I worked in Japan before and this was like experiencing a small earthquake several times an hour. There were cracks appearing in party walls and water came through twice. Some staff were suffering motion sickness, some asked to be relocated.
"We set up a hotline and got dozens of complaints. Visitors were petrified.
"After eight weeks of getting nowhere by being too polite and obliging, we felt we had no option but to go to court. Since then things have got better, although there are still problems. We hope this will continue - otherwise we will have to seek further relief." An Arab Investments spokesman said: "The agreed vibration levels have now been included in the order granted by the court but even if they are exceeded, Arab Investments is protected as long as it can show it has used all proper and reasonable steps to prevent exceeding them." Following the demolition, building work should begin in the spring. At almost 945ft, the tower will be the tallest in the City and Canary Wharf.
