Rother - control of bonfires?

ROTHER is currently powerless to ban garden bonfires but a Bill currently in Parliament may give council power to control bonfires by byelaw.
By The Newsroom
Published 11th Aug 2007, 11:34 BST
Updated 7th Jun 2018, 20:21 BST

A questioner on Rother leader Cllr Carl Maynard's Ask The Leader slot on the www.rother.gov.uk website asked: " In view of the new re-cycling programme and the collection of garden waste is it not possible for the council to now consider the banning of garden bonfires?

"This is anti-social behaviour and a threat to residents' health especially the elderly and those suffering from asthma. Only yesterday (August 5), the hottest day of the year so far, while sitting in our garden at 7pm in the evening (temp. 24deg) a neighbour lit a bonfire in his garden.

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"When I politely pointed out to him that the smoke was drifting over several properties he responded by saying 'It's not against the law'.

"Well I think it is about time it was."

The leader said: "The council cannot currently make bye-laws to prohibit or restrict bonfires. The Government consider that the existing law of statutory nuisance is sufficient.

"However, there is a review of bonfires in a Government (DEFRA) report of January 2006. This confirms that bonfire smoke nuisance is an issue for national legislation, the Environmental Protection Act 1990, but further consideration would need to be given to the possible effectiveness of Byelaws and the possibility of amending primary legislation to allow them.

"Legislation which is still in Parliament, the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill, may give us greater freedom to make Byelaws in future."

Related topics:ParliamentDEFRAGovernment