Smoke nuisance

Smoke nuisance from bonfires

Horsham District does not have any smoke free areas or bylaws with restrictions on bonfires, but having a garden bonfire almost anywhere in the Horsham District can be seen as anti-social by many residents.

Horsham District Council strongly advises against having garden bonfires. Not only can they be anti-social, but they are also not an environmentally friendly option, and can produce pollutants that are damaging to your health. There are always more responsible alternatives than burning garden waste.

If a person has bonfires on a regular basis, then we may be able to help.

What's wrong with a bonfire?

• It can cause a nuisance to neighbours from smoke and smells. Each year the Council's Public Health and Licensing Department has to deal with over 100 complaints about garden bonfires
• Garden bonfires create dioxins and other toxic pollutants
• Smoke and smells from bonfires can aggravate respiratory problems such as asthma and bronchitis, and affect those with heart complaints
• Fires can spread from garden bonfires to fences, trees and damage property
• Bonfires produce carbon dioxide, a major contributor to global warming
• Animals often take shelter in piles of garden waste, such as prepared bonfires

Make a complaint

It is an offence to cause a statutory nuisance from regular domestic bonfires. Persistent offenders could be prosecuted by the Council and be fined up to £5000.

You can report regular domestic bonfires as a smoke nuisance. A nuisance is an 'Unreasonable interference with the enjoyment of your property'. It must occur regularly and must continue for a time which makes it 'unreasonable'.

If you make a formal complaint, we will normally ask you to keep a diary, recording dates and times of the noise and how it affects you. On receipt of this information, we will investigate to check if the smoke is causing a statutory nuisance under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Once we have received a complaint, a letter shall be issued to the offending property to notify them the complaint was raised.

To make a complaint, visit our Citizen Portal and fill in the relevant application, see details below.

When you make a complaint, please follow the below guidance:

• Sign in or sign up to our Online portal (use the button below)
• Navigate to “Report an Issue”. You may need to click the 3 lines in the top left to open the menu
• On "Report an issue" select the request type from the Dropdown menu and complete the online form. This includes information such as:
  1. Your details. These will be kept private unless the case goes to court. We do not accept anonymous complaints.
  2. Details regarding the relevant property/premises. We will require the full exact address of the property.
  3. The type and frequency of the nuisance.

Make a smoke nuisance complaint online

How to get rid of your rubbish

Rather than burning your rubbish in a bonfire, use the following options to dispose of it:

• Take your rubbish to your nearest Household Waste Recycling Site
• If you need to get rid of garden waste regularly, sign up to our garden waste service
• For a one-off collection, consider our Bulky Bag service
• Compost your garden waste. West Sussex Waste Partnership sell subsidised compost bins for £15

Bonfires on commercial sites

Open burning on commercial sites is generally prohibited by Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994, enforced by the Environment Agency. However, the burning of clean wood on demolition sites is exempt from licensing, provided the wood is produced as a result of demolition work and is burned on the land where it is produced. There is a similar exemption for tree waste from landscape maintenance.

However, if such burning is causing a statutory smoke nuisance to local residents, we can take action to ensure the nuisance is abated. If you would like to report an issue with bonfires on commercial property, please use our online contact form or call 01403 215641.

Dark smoke from industrial premises

Under the Clean Air Act 1993, it is an offence to cause or permit emissions of dark smoke from industrial or trade premises (includes building and demolition). Burning can be deemed to have taken place (without witnessing a bonfire) if the materials that have been burnt on the premises are likely to give rise to dark smoke, e.g. tyres, plastic, paint, etc. Cable burning is also a specific offence unless authorised.