neighbours garden fires blowing smoke seven hours at least

[annoyednow]

Hi, I think I'm going to have to move to where I have no neighbours. I'm having difficulty one side re people wanting to build their development from my land. On the other side of me, the house is divided into flats. Upstairs and downstairs. The flat upstairs has the furthest half of the garden. The flat downstairs has the near part of their garden.

The owner of the upstairs flat has cleared a very wild garden a few months ago and burnt every last bit of the vegetation on bonfires. We thought ok, it's only a few days. She has replaced the fence and is now burning every last bit of old wood and more it seems like. Two days last week, the bonfire was going most of the day. She had dropped a note in to say she would be doing this. We got no note today.

The fire has been going from at least 11am this morning. It is still going. I opened my french doors to go outside and had to come straight in. Seven hours of solid burning makes the atmosphere horrible. I couldn't put washing out all day and certainly not junior. To top it all, I just went into kitchen and the people in the lower flat had lit a garden fire and the smoke being near the house was blowing smoke directly towards us. WTF. Environment is now closed. I'm beginning to wonder if this is going to be a regular way of getting rid of waste for them all. It's not illegal says the website of local authority.

There are high trees blocking the smoke going the other side of them, so it's all coming towards me. The house beside me is unoccupied, so nobody being bothered there either.

How the heck do I deal with this one? Besides moving.

I think I am cursed. How else could you explain it?

Couldn't open my windows either and am avoiding the back of the house 'cos smell down chimney flue. I think that's where it's coming in. It's poetic really. I can't burn fuel in the fireplace but am unable to open the windows or even go into my garden 'cos of thick smokey atmosphere due to next door burning outside all day. It's at least the fifth day we have been unable to go out into garden since before Christmas.

with neighbour nuisance, start by keeping an accurate diary, with dates and times. Fil it in at the time, not later, and not when you think you remember. You can take some photos if you want. Anyone assesing how bad the nuisance is will want to see it.

I sympathise with you both. I think the best thing would be to go round and talk to the neighbour, say that you appreciate that she's had a huge amount of garden waste to get rid of, but that burning it for long periods of time is causing a real nuisance to her neighbours, and agree some kind of alternative.

How would you want them to get rid of waste? Don't underestimate just how much space green waste takes up when you're trying to clear that level of overgrown garden - it's incredibly time consuming to take it to the tip in an ordinary car, or to try to dispose of it in green bins.

Can you lend them space in your green bin? Could you suggest they hire a shredder for a weekend?

Suggest you ask how much they need to burn/how long for. They're clearly conscious of the impact to have dropped you a note last time - a good sign.

To be honest, (if I've interpreted your post correctly) five days of burning since Christmas doesn't seem terribly excessive. Checking the council websites to see whether you can prevent it seems a tad premature if you haven't discussed it with them?

It feels like a long time when you can't even hang your washing out. OH is going to talk to her to find out if she's going to be doing all day jobs much longer. The fire was still smoldering with reduced smoke plume at 9pm. Unattended. That's at least a 10hour job. I don't think that is acceptable in any shape or form if it is to become a regular thing. A couple of hours ok.

One thing I'm worried about is the old fencing panels she is burning. If that was impregnated with a chemical preservative or stain of some sort, god knows what's in the air. I think it's only dry natural garden waste she is allowed to burn. Fed up.

Oh had asked her to drop a note so I wouldn't have washing out. She only did it the once. She wanted us to give her workmen access from our side to do roof job so she mentioned the burning on the note as well.

Maybe it would be worth asking what they're trying to get rid of. As GrendelsMum says, if it's something that they just need to be rid of then maybe you could speed it up by offering your bins, or a hand to the local tip if you've a trailor?

I agree, I wouldn't be happy if it's not a finite piece of work and they're planning on doing it very frequently.