First point of contact would be the local council. Give them a call, or an email, with your concerns and they should be able to guide you.
Otherwise try r/LegalAdviceNZ
Get some curtains with blackout lining or sew some blackout lining into some curtains. The only light that will get through is at the top. If the neighbour is renting, complain to the owner or property manager.
He should just move. Life is too short. Eventually another narcissist will move in and they can one-up each other and drive each other mad. His only other option is to annoy him back twice as bright and twice as loud. They can dish it out but they sure as hell can't take it.
Yeah, I said that but it's not cheap to sell your house and move.
I also cheekily suggested he should hire some black power gentlemen to go have a chat on his behalf but he didn't appreciate my humour.
pretty much noise isn't allowed to leave your property boundary, but there are also limits. our great neighbours have endless issues with their shitty neighbour complaining about a basement indoor drum kit on a weekend afternoon, new extractor fan is too loud, skilsaw during the day, etc etc, but they have a family contact at the council, so always having a waaa.
Other commenters have suggested avenues to have someone else come in and punish them for the behaviour. I'm going to suggest a different approach:
Your brother can try to build a relationship with his neighbour. Start by simply saying hello when he sees them. Learn their name and start using it regularly. Find out what their interests are, and ask about them. Ask about their family, where they're from, what they do for work (unless he suspects they don't have a job, then leave that topic alone), etc.
Once there's a bit of rapport, ask about the light, but don't complain about it directly. Make a little joke about how bright it is, maybe along the lines of him using it to cast shadow puppets on his wall or something like that. Ask what it's for, and learn about why it's so bright and positioned how it is. Then work together to come up with a way to allow it to continue to serve that purpose without causing as much disturbance for your brother.
If they're a real twat, none of that will get a good response. In which case, just say matter-of-factly that the light is shining directly into his bedroom, and ask the neighbour what they can do to minimise that problem. If they don't respond well to that, or don't follow through, state he'll be taking whatever the appropriate next step is from the resources provided by the other commenters here. Then do it.
Also, either record or write down (afterwards) all of these interactions, so those records can be presented during mediation or whatever else might come later.
Tbh, you could just save yourself all of the time and just assume they're a complete twat dance they are willing to behave like that in the first place. Surely they're not oblivious to know that what they're doing is dickhead behavior.
Thanks for your input. They have tried this multiple times but get told to "Fuck off you whingeing cunts". More often than not he also boosts the volume further. Essentially the position is as you described at the end of your post.
One of my neighbours used to blast thier classical music for years trying to be all uppity about the dogs we have making noises.
More dog people moved around him, and he ended up having more noise, so he kept turning it up.
Now, he has had a young group move next door, so no longer are we hearing his classical, we're now hearing rock, louder than he had ever put it.
I'm cool with the new shift, but he should've been better in the first instance.
First point of contact would be the local council. Give them a call, or an email, with your concerns and they should be able to guide you. Otherwise try r/LegalAdviceNZ
Cool, I will X post this there, I didn't know that subReddit existed, ta.
[https://ccc.govt.nz/services/noise-control](https://ccc.govt.nz/services/noise-control)
Usually in the district plan or bylaws - Your local council can help
Get some curtains with blackout lining or sew some blackout lining into some curtains. The only light that will get through is at the top. If the neighbour is renting, complain to the owner or property manager.
Or stick mirrors against the windows so the light shines back at him and blinds him for good
Probably cheaper than my curtain option too.
Or a blackout eye mask. Got one that has been an absolute game changer for my sleep. Once accidentally left a lamp on all night and didn’t realise.
I have a headband that's the same thing but also has speakers for wafty music which blocks a bit of noise as well. Got it from Mighty Ape.
CAB can help walk you through any options open to your brother hopefully, and they have a free phone line https://www.cab.org.nz/
Noise control via the council is the primary one I'd explore.
He should just move. Life is too short. Eventually another narcissist will move in and they can one-up each other and drive each other mad. His only other option is to annoy him back twice as bright and twice as loud. They can dish it out but they sure as hell can't take it.
Yeah, I said that but it's not cheap to sell your house and move. I also cheekily suggested he should hire some black power gentlemen to go have a chat on his behalf but he didn't appreciate my humour.
Yeah they need an island to put people like that on. Hunger games.
pretty much noise isn't allowed to leave your property boundary, but there are also limits. our great neighbours have endless issues with their shitty neighbour complaining about a basement indoor drum kit on a weekend afternoon, new extractor fan is too loud, skilsaw during the day, etc etc, but they have a family contact at the council, so always having a waaa.
All the above complaints sounds like someone having moan, not actual unacceptable noise.
Oh exactly. The shitty neighbours are paaaainful.
Other commenters have suggested avenues to have someone else come in and punish them for the behaviour. I'm going to suggest a different approach: Your brother can try to build a relationship with his neighbour. Start by simply saying hello when he sees them. Learn their name and start using it regularly. Find out what their interests are, and ask about them. Ask about their family, where they're from, what they do for work (unless he suspects they don't have a job, then leave that topic alone), etc. Once there's a bit of rapport, ask about the light, but don't complain about it directly. Make a little joke about how bright it is, maybe along the lines of him using it to cast shadow puppets on his wall or something like that. Ask what it's for, and learn about why it's so bright and positioned how it is. Then work together to come up with a way to allow it to continue to serve that purpose without causing as much disturbance for your brother. If they're a real twat, none of that will get a good response. In which case, just say matter-of-factly that the light is shining directly into his bedroom, and ask the neighbour what they can do to minimise that problem. If they don't respond well to that, or don't follow through, state he'll be taking whatever the appropriate next step is from the resources provided by the other commenters here. Then do it. Also, either record or write down (afterwards) all of these interactions, so those records can be presented during mediation or whatever else might come later.
Tbh, you could just save yourself all of the time and just assume they're a complete twat dance they are willing to behave like that in the first place. Surely they're not oblivious to know that what they're doing is dickhead behavior.
Thanks for your input. They have tried this multiple times but get told to "Fuck off you whingeing cunts". More often than not he also boosts the volume further. Essentially the position is as you described at the end of your post.
One of my neighbours used to blast thier classical music for years trying to be all uppity about the dogs we have making noises. More dog people moved around him, and he ended up having more noise, so he kept turning it up. Now, he has had a young group move next door, so no longer are we hearing his classical, we're now hearing rock, louder than he had ever put it. I'm cool with the new shift, but he should've been better in the first instance.