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Original poster

Ive just phoned environmental health

28 replies

gold123 · 21/07/2004 14:13

I'm feeling a little guilty, but I just had to do it.

My neighbour (behind us) started a bonfire at 3pm yesterday afternoon, I had to bring my smoke filled washing in, shut all the windows and brought the kids in from outside as smoke was belowing in our garden. Fortunately 1 hour later it started to rain, so that was the end of that.

Well at 1.30 today, he's just started another, flippin cheek, more smoke filled washing has just had to be brought in.

We live in a 'brown bin' area, so all of peoples garden waste should be placed in our said 'brown bin' and the council take it away. They are on their way out, to tell him to put it out.

It really annoys me, that some people just don't think - if you want a bonfire, you make sure 1. its at night 2. All people have windows and doors shut 3. No washing out.

I do hope he doesn't find out it me and come round and have a go, I'm on my own for a few days as dh is away working

OP posts:
Yorkiegirl · 21/07/2004 14:14

Message withdrawn

Kayleigh · 21/07/2004 14:16

How annoying and bloody inconsiderate.
You did the right thing.

Hulababy · 21/07/2004 14:22

So annoying. MY PILs live near some allotments and there is a man wih one who always puts starts a fire every Sunday afternoon. But then he leaves it to burn on it's own and goes off home. Neighbours have been out the next morning to find it still hot. I keep telling them to call environmental health too.

princesspeahead · 21/07/2004 14:39

Am I missing something? What is wrong with a bonfire? And of course it is still hot the next day, it is a bonfire, not an electric fire...

poor bloke

Hulababy · 21/07/2004 14:44

Nothing wrong with fires per say BUT it is inconsiderate. There are rules on lighting bonfires I am sure but not sure what. It is manners surly to check you are not making life more difficult for someone - like checking if people's washing is out, etc?

Hulababy · 21/07/2004 14:46

Found this:

Bonfire smoke can be irritating and even harmful, particularly to people with chest or heart problems. By lighting a smoky bonfire you could be breaking the law. Anyone lighting a fire and allowing smoke to drift across a road faces a fine of up to £2,000 under the Highways (Amendment) Act 1986. Under the Clean Air Act 1968 and the Environmental Protection Act 1990 it is an offence to cause a nuisance through the creation of smoke, with a maximum penalty of £2,000.

How to prevent smoke nuisance

Composting garden waste is a much better alternative to burning. A properly built compost heap will deal with most garden waste, leaves, grass cuttings, paper, cardboard, and kitchen scraps (but not dairy or meat products as they attract pests). Find out more about composting.

If you are unable to compost, take your garden waste to your nearest County Council civic amenity site or request some garden refuse bags from the Council's Street Scene service (a small charge applies for the green bags) on (01395) 517528.

If you do light a bonfire

  • remember to warn your neighbours
  • ensure that only dry material is burnt as this will produce the minimum of smoke
  • never add household rubbish or rubber tyres to the sire, or use sump oil to set it alight
  • do not start a fire when the weather conditions will cause problems. Smoke hangs in the air on damp, windless das and early evenings while strong winds may also carry smoke over roads and other people's property
  • never leave a bonfire unattended or leave it to smoulder - cover it with soil or douse it with water.

How to complain about a bonfire

Firstly, speak to the person having the bonfire. If you clearly explain the problem that it is causing, this approach may ensure that the person is more considerate in the future.

Beetroot · 21/07/2004 14:55

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

agy · 21/07/2004 14:56

Oooh, I love the smell of a bonfire!

princesspeahead · 21/07/2004 14:59

but he isn't screening the road with smoke or causing a legal nuisance, he is burning a bit of garden waste! suppose it depends if you think your washing is more important than his garden. I like the smell of smoke myself, though, perhaps that's why I feel sorry for him

Hulababy · 21/07/2004 15:01

Yes but Gold123 says that they dop provide an alternative 'brown bin' scheme he could use instead and cause much less hassle.

Not keen on smoke. It irrates my eyes quite a bit.

princesspeahead · 21/07/2004 15:03

keep thinking of some poor old bloke (lets call him bert) who has been growing prize leeks on his allotment for 30 years, being very diligent all the while to burn this waste and prevent disease spreading, only to have some council official come up and quote section numbers to him and tell him he is making someone's washing smell of woodsmoke. poor bert.

Fio2 · 21/07/2004 15:04

do they provide brown bins? we never had one i only moved 3 months ago! as for that well if its occassional he wont get fined for it. IME environmental health in ........... are rubbish

iota · 21/07/2004 15:10

I remember having a huge bonfire of all the overgrown rubbish left in my recently purchased garden, which had been stuffed in the (redundant) coal bunker.
One of the neighbours came out and asked us how long we were going to be as they wanted to put their washing out.

It was strictly a one off for us, although dh did build a barbecue and we had to time using that around their laundry in the interests of being good neighbours.

Gingerbear · 21/07/2004 15:47

We needed a bonfire once when clearing our garden. Warned neighbours before hand, they were fine about it.

Almost needed to call out the fire service, as we were burning some pine tree branches which really flared up and set fire to a tree!!(must have been the resin) Luckily, my brother grabbed the garden hose and we managed to avert a disaster.

Original poster
gold123 · 21/07/2004 20:37

I have no problem with Bert or whoever having a bonfire, but a little bit of consideration would be nice. Not at 3pm or 1.30pm in the afternoon on a nice hot sunny day, where I have to close all my windows and get the children in from out of the garden.

We have had bonfires in the past, but wait until late evening and not on a hot day, where peoples windows would be open. At one point today my garden was completely filled with white smoke.

FIO2 - we are the only area in Stafford (I believe) that have the brown bin scheme, last year we had to pay for them, but this year they were issued free.

I don't usually complain and didn't yesterday although I was a little annoyed at having to call the kids in from the garden. The official said that the time in which these bonfires were lit were unacceptable. Anyway its out now

OP posts:
hercules · 21/07/2004 20:41

Is he likely to continue burning bonfires everyday? If so then yes you were right to report him but for what was virtually a one off seems a bit hars to phone eh on your neighbour.

Original poster
gold123 · 21/07/2004 20:48

who knows if he would have continued past today, I thought he had done it all yesterday, but still he thought it was OK to carry on, I really wouldn't have minded as much, had he warned us or even did it later, I'm sorry if people find what I did offensive, but these things get right up my nose - literally

OP posts:
misdee · 21/07/2004 20:51

i would have called as well. but as my dd has asthma i feel she should be able to play outside with getting a blast of acrid smoke from a neighbour.

when we had bonfires a few years ago, we did them at night.

libb · 21/07/2004 21:00

We have a ton of garden debris to get rid of and hope to burn it rather than spend every two weeks loading the brown bin with a handful each time, we have a ruddy big garden that needs a lot of work and this will be the best way to get rid. I fully intend to let both sets of neighbours know when we do finally get round to it. (Actually one of the neighbours caused the current mass of weeds in our garden as he tore half the decent grass up the a digger trying to get to a tree in his garden earlier in the year!)

The weather is manky at the moment round here so maybe that was the reasoning behind it - perhaps it didn't occur to them that it would upset anyone? I would've approached the neighbour first and then chased using the council myself if that didn't work but can understand how annoyed you must be feeling. A little thought goes a long way.

Spod · 21/07/2004 21:19

hulababy... can you find a similar statement re dogs barking.... our neighbours dog barks for no apparent reason, wakes dd often and its really peeing me off that she isnt training the mutt not to bark at everything. thanks if you can help

Hulababy · 21/07/2004 21:21

Will see what I can find Spod!

Nuisance Barking

If you have had a complaint about your dog barking, then this is the act that relates to this problem. If an Environmental Health Officer is called to investigate a nuisance barking complaint, it may lead to a 'statutory notice' under this act, being served on you. You have 21 days to stop the nuisance, financial penalties may follow and may ultimately mean that you will have to part with your dog.*

Hulababy · 21/07/2004 21:24

A bit more here

or:

My neighbour's dogs are left in his back garden all day, every day and they bark continually. Is this a noise nuisance?
A Yes. If you are bothered by a barking dog, identify where it lives before you contact the Environmental Control Team. You must provide this information if you can, along with your own details. If you are able, try talking to the owner of the dog first.
You will be asked to keep a diary for around two weeks, on which you should note the times that the barking is so bad that it disturbs you - usually this involves persistent loud barking or howling for long periods of time.

In rare cases, where the co-operation of the dog owner is not achieved, formal legal action can be taken requiring action to achieve a satisfactory situation.

SueW · 21/07/2004 22:31

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at OP's request.

SofiaAmes · 22/07/2004 00:16

gold123, did you say anything to your neighbor before calling environmental health? Really I think the first step would be to say nicely to him. Could you let me know the next time your are going to do a bonfire as I have my laundry out and it's all going to have to be rewashed. Actually personally I would prefer a bonfire during the day when I'm not at home, or able to got out if I am, rather than at night when I am in bed.

I speak from experience. My dh enthusiastically lit a bonfire one time at our old house and our childminder (who lived 2 doors away) came over to tell him that her laundry was out and could he let her know next time. He was mortified as it hadn't even occurred to him (he is male after all) and has been thoughtful about it ever since. In fact the only neighbor that he doesn't check with is the nasty neighbor 4 doors down who called the police because the workmen housesitting for us had a party in the garden in the middle of the summer and had the music on at 10pm on a saturday. His wife also complained to the builders working on our neighbor's roof at 11am on a weekday that they were making too much noise and had woken up her son who was on nightshift (he is in fact at college fulltime and does not have a job).

JanZ · 22/07/2004 09:32

We got a letter from the council (Glasgow) saying there had been a complaint about us lighting bonfires and reminding us that bonfires could only be lit after 7pm, and that if we didn't adhere to that, we could be prosecuted.

The irony was, we HADN'T been lighting any bonfires - and can only think that whoever had compained had confused our house with the house next door, which HAD had a bonfire about the time that they were complaining about.