Locals unleash fury in UK town over ‘noisy’ £2.5m heat pump

People living in a West Midlands town are being driven to their wit’s end by a noisy heat pump  

The pump was put in at Dudley College of Technology amid fears that the college could lose its government funding.

But it is now causing a constant, dull sound which has sparked anger among those living in the area.

Despite the pump’s installation being carried out without planning permission, the college gained retrospective permission from Dudley Council’s planning committee.

This means the pump will not have to be removed, even though the college apologised for installing it in the first place.

Estates director, Steve Johnson, told the committee: “The college openly admits it has not followed the process, we are extremely apologetic for that. It is not our normal behaviour.

“The £2.5million project is substantially funded by the Department for Net Zero which had tight spending requirements and we had to spend the money by March 2025, which forced the college to progress the works.”

The pump was part of a nationwide effort from the Labour Government to achieve its Net Zero environmental targets. The Government wants to phase out the sales of gas boilers by 2035.

Councillor Karl Denning told The Telegraph how the noise is affecting the town.

He said: “It’s like an extractor fan you have in the bathroom, just a lot louder. It’s a low, bassy drum noise, which, if you live by it, is rather annoying to say the least.”

Nearly 30 objection letters were sent to the council, with one person lamenting the fact that the noise from the pump wakes them up at 6:30am.

Another said: “I have lived here for 43 years and I feel I will be unable to carry on living here with the disruption going on a daily basis.”

A third letter said: “When I bought this house, I paid an extra £10,000 just because it is a peaceful residential area and for local and remote residents to come and rest in the priory park.

“Also I work from home and will not bear the noise all day. This construction will cause mental health issues and disturb the quality of life for the neighbours.”

Neil Thomas, chief executive of Dudley College, said: “Delays in the formal planning process, the need to be ready for winter and funding imperatives meant there was an overlap in the decommissioning of our gas boilers and the first use of the new system, pending planning approval.

“We accept this was not the right order of events but given all of the work we had put in to safeguard the site would be planning compliant and the need to ensure we supplied our students with a suitably warm learning environment, we proceeded.”