Passive smoking

[wag345]

A public house has built a designated smoking area on the party wall of our premises and we are concerned that we will get the smoke drifting into our garden. Does any one know our rights with this problem.

Wouldn't imagine you have a leg to stand on. You knew you were bordering the pub when you moved into the house. That would have always been a risk.

No hope at all imo.

built it? with planning permission?

I would image you have zero rights. As long as they are on their property and not in breech of the public smoking ban they can probably do as they please.

er....there are guidelines when erecting these things

ask local council op

also, they come with a fire risk

It depends what you mean by built, they may need planning permission.. but they can also use the back for smoking and you don't really have a leg to stand on

Well I had presumed that had out some decking down and a canapy or something like that... I guess if they have actually built some sort of permanent structure it might be an issue if big enough to need planning permission. What have they built Op?

is it for staff or customers op?

Hi notknownatthisaddress, the pub was a small village pub but has had
an extensive amount of building carried out in the last three months of which we were aware of but this smoking area was never mentioned on the plans.

Never heard of a smoking area needing planning permission.
Is it some kind of outbuilding, or more like a carport type thing, or just a seating area?

It is a permanent construction with footings laid and bolts set in the base for the canopy. Thanks for all your comments.

Email you district council & attach photographs of the structure from your property.

Explain the structure is for smoking and ask the question as to whether this is a health and safety issue.

OP, suggest you do as Ivykaty44 suggests. Although in reality, you may find that the effect of the weather on the dispersal of the smoke is against you; whether you can campaign against the smell is perhaps a way forwards?

A quick google shows there are strict guidelines.

Smoking shelters have criteria to meet, so I would google their plans and look

Thank you all for your messages, I will keep you informed of any developments.

That sounds dreadful, especially in the summer. Just because you moved next to a pub doesn't mean you should have the smoking point right next to your house. Is it a privately owned pub? Most now are owned by a chain of some description. I'd find out which brewery was linked to the pub and contact them. There's a good chance higher up wouldn't want the bad press whereas the actual pub manager may not want to move it due to the cost. If that doesn't work I'd go to the council planners but I'd do whatever quickly.

You could try to sue in tort if there was a sudden increase in smoke drifting into your garden. There is a precedent, I don't remember the case but it was fairly recent. In a dispute between neighbors, the court ordered that the smoking neighbours could only smoke at certain times. I would imagine that it wouldn't be much of an issue though, surely this would only happen in the evenings and not that many people smoke these days anyway.