Bonfire Nuisance

If the type of domestic property you live in is suitable, it is perfectly legal to have a bonfire on your land and, contrary to popular belief, there are no restrictions as to what time of the day or day of the week you can have it on. There is, however, firm legislation in place which you must comply with to ensure that your bonfire does not contravene the Environmental Protection Act.

In addition to the legislation, it’s also important that you consider how the bonfire might affect your neighbours as this issue can cause many disputes. For example, whilst the law does not restrict you from doing so, it would be highly inconsiderate to light a bonfire in the middle of the night. As a general guideline, don’t light your bonfire any later than one hour before dusk and far better to do it in the morning or early afternoon.

Choosing Your Site

You need to think carefully about whereabouts in your garden you are going to situate your bonfire because, not only do you need to consider your neighbours, any kind of fire can be extremely dangerous if not managed properly. Keep any bonfire well out of the way of windows, trees, fences, hedges and other combustible materials.

Even in the summer months, when there are lots of green leaves around, it’s easy to forget that they are simply light covering for a lot of dry wood and, should an ivy bush catch fire, for example, one that grows along the side of a fence reaching right to your house, it’s amazing how rapidly that can take hold and spread.

Informing Your Closest Neighbours

It’s common courtesy to let those neighbours who might be affected by the smoke know when you intend to have the bonfire. Obviously, not everybody has the same day for doing their washing and hanging it out on the line or inviting guests around for a barbecue but by letting them know in advance, your neighbours can plan washing days and outdoor activities accordingly. And whilst on the subject of barbecues, the same common courtesy rules should apply if you think you’re barbecue is going to cause excessive smoke problems.

General Advice

Firstly, try to have as few bonfires as possible. These days, and with the encouragement to recycle, there is far less need to burn garden rubbish than there may have been a few years ago. Recycling bins are often provided for things like garden waste such as branches, bracken, grass cuttings etc and many gardeners will use much of the stuff that they may have previously burned and use it as compost.

Don’t include any wet or green materials as that will just cause excess smoke and, for both safety purposes and to reduce annoyance potential, burning a small bonfire and then adding to it as opposed to making one great big bonfire is likely to create less smoke. Keep a hosepipe handy or have buckets of water already prepared in case the fire gets out of control and never leave a bonfire unattended.

You should not burn anything which is likely to cause excessive and pungent black smoke. For example, rubber tyres, plastic containers etc do not belong on a bonfire. You should not attempt to light a bonfire when it’s a windy day. That way, it’s far easier to control and makes it safer but wind will also blow the smoke further which could cause annoyance to even more of your neighbours.

If a Neighbour’s Bonfire Causes a Problem

If a neighbour is burning a bonfire which is causing a nuisance, you should firstly go round to their house and ask them politely to extinguish it or if they could do anything to reduce its effects. Quite often, they are so engrossed in what they’ve got to burn and get rid of that they can be pretty oblivious to the effects the bonfire is having on nearby residents.

However, if they ignore your request, you can contact your local authority’s environmental health department who will write to the neighbour, including sending them the relevant legislation about what they can and cannot do and further legal action can be taken against them if they continue to flout the law. In fact, keeping a written log of dates and times when the problems arise and taking some footage of the effects of a neighbour’s bonfire if you have a camera or, better still, a camcorder will often help to enable your local authority to prosecute them more quickly if they are breaching the law.

Generally speaking, however, there are far fewer reasons for anybody to be having to burn rubbish on a bonfire in their garden these days. Waste can be often be recycled or disposed of in other ways so, if you are thinking of having a bonfire, consider the neighbours and think of less damaging ways in which you might be able to dispose of certain kinds of waste.