To be pissed off about the bonfire

[Caffeineislife]

Neighbours across the road spent all that lovely weather last week cutting their hedges and clearing their garden. This morning they have lit a great big bonfire. The whole area stinks of smoke.

I put my washing out this morning (before said fire was lit), just gone to put the next load out and the load on the line absolutely stinks of bonfire. They have told no-one about this fire.

Now I have to re-wash and try again to get it dry tomorrow or put the tumble dryer on which I am loathe to do now I can line dry. Bloody annoyed as I have 4 loads to do today.

The smell is now coming through the closed windows. So now the house stinks too. Great.

So annoying, especially as the weather today is awful, and perfect drying day yesterday. Also it’s the wrong time of year to be cutting hedges the birds are nesting.

I think it is illegal to cut down hedges where birds are nesting.

That’s awful, I think bonfires should be banned in residential areas. They shouldn’t burn fresh cut stuff either.

Check your county website. Such bonfires are banned in my county.

https://www.gov.uk/garden-bonfires-rules

Garden bonfires: the rules
There are laws about burning certain types of waste and to prevent bonfires causing a nuisance.
Burning domestic wasteYou cannot get rid of household waste if it will cause pollution or harm people’s health. This includes burning it.
You can get rid of household or garden waste by composting or recycling it. Contact your local council to find out how to dispose of garden waste and about recycling in your area.
You could be fined if you light a fire and allow the smoke to drift across the road and become a danger to traffic.
Complain about a neighbour’s bonfireYour council has a responsibility to investigate complaints of smoke and fumes that could be a ‘statutory nuisance’.
They can issue an ‘abatement notice’ if a neighbour’s bonfire is causing a nuisance. Your neighbour can be fined if they do not follow the rules of the abatement notice.

It’s illegal to cut down trees/hedges during nesting season unless a bird nest assessment has been done.

I’m hoping that OP meant simply trimming their hedges when they said “cutting”.

it doesn’t make a difference - it’s illegal to prune trees/hedges where a bird is nesting as it may disturb the birds.

Our council don't allow them either - but it's obviously not helpful knowing this now, after the event!

Do you know your neighbours? Is it something you could talk to them about? Or do you have a neighbourhood WhatsApp group you could post in?

Otherwise I might be tempted to put a note through their door (NOT an anonymous one) asking them not to do it in future. (But I'd check what your council rules are first)

RSPB says it’s a myth. You can prune your hedge any time of year.
https://community.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/b/wildlife/posts/getting-the-wrong-end-of-the-stick-about-hedges-and-trees

”With our warm and wetter springs and summers, hedges can quickly become unmanageable. It’s OK to use secateurs or sheers to keep a hedge under control, and if you do disturb an adult from their nest, they should return when you leave the area.”

You just can’t intentionally destroy an active nest.

Reasonable to do so today not at the weekend, unreasonable not to warn people beforehand so they can keep windows closed and washing indoors.

The RSPB say it’s best to not cut hedges during bird nesting season. That’s the advice given in the talks they give about garden birds .

YANBU
I once totally lost it with a retired, male neighbour who seemed to look at the lovely weekend weather and think ‘time for a bonfire’
In no uncertain terms I pointed out how selfish it was towards working people who only had the weekend to get washing done ( to be fair we don’t all work mon to Friday before you all pile on)

He was way more thoughtful after that - you need to have a word about this. It’s a pain to get rid of garden waste but more consideration should be given to the impact on neighbours

My NDN loves a bonfire. When he first bought the house it needed lots of work so he had a bonfire going for days burning everything that could burn and putting everything that wouldn’t burn in the skip. When I pointed out the daily smell and smoke on a lovely summer’s day was unpleasant he told me I was BU as he he lots of rubbish to dispose of and skips were too expensive. It’s all about him. Unfortunately, if you have an entitled, inconsiderate twat for a NDN there’s little you can do. I did raise it with the council who wrote to him and we had to keep daily diaries setting out when and for how long the fires lasted and detailing the impact it had on us but the council can only act if it’s deemed a statutory nuisance, that is something that is persistent and recurrent, and the occasional bonfire apparently isn’t. He has cleared all the old fences and every single bush and plant from the garden and replaced it with a lawn now so I’m hoping he’s run out of stuff to burn. You have my sympathy, it’s just ignorant and selfish to inflict smoke and smell on everyone around you imo.

I put this up.the other day too.

It's disgusting and stinks the place out.

Tell them face to face.

My NDN decided that it was appropriate to burn household waste (including plastics) several days per week, using an incinerator, starting the fire at about 6pm or so and leaving it burning all night. We couldn't open our windows all summer some years. We eventually managed to get the Local Authority to serve them a notice to indicate that they were not allowed to continue burning stuff on the property. The last set of photos of them burning stuff on the property prompted them coming round and hammering the door and accusing me of being a paedophile... simply for taking pictures of the incinerator belching flame... again... They already have 4 wheeley bins so not quite sure how they create that much rubbish.

Unfortunately not, they had cut down quite a lot of hedge to the stump and are currently putting in a fence. The rest of the hedges have had quite a haircut. Pretty sure any birds that were nesting will have left as it's gone from full hedge to real bare bones of a hedge and half the height they were.

Unfortunately they are an inconsiderate arse who delights in being an annoyance. He moved in just after lockdown for a "better quality of life" from London. He is the only person on the street having a better quality of life. He built a massive lock down shed bar and partied in it every weekend the other year. Ticks his penis extension of a bike over in his garage every summer weekend. Then goes off for a ride on it like a bat out of hell. He loves parking his massive land boat of a car so it blocks the pavement so pushchairs and wheelchairs can't get passed. When asked to move it (we have a care home down the road and myself and a few others living on the road have a pushchair) he says if he parks it on the road then he will loose a wing mirror or it might get hit.

I did report it as our council does not allow fires before 6pm. I know the care home reported it as their care taker came down the road to see what the smoke was as it was bothering a lot of the residents.

Bonfires are banned? What about the awful wood burning stoves that belch out smoke 24/7? My neighbour burnt his sawn up decking in his , then any old crap that he picks up, old doors, pallets you name it if it’s wood he saws/chops it up and burns it, the smoke from his chimney is awful. Chimney on a single story extension about 20 feet from my back door. Council are useless!