Smoke nuisance
In this section
Open fires, BBQ's, chimneys and wood-burning stoves
Horsham District is not a smoke control area and therefore residents are able to use the heating fuel and equipment of their choice.
However, we do recommend that residents use cleaner fuels in a cleaner appliance installed by a competent person as this will benefit air quality by reducing the amount of emitted particulate matter.
Ways to reduce the environmental impact of your fire
If you need to burn solid fuels to heat your home, choosing what you burn and how you burn it can make a big difference to the pollution it creates. We recommend the following steps to residents.
- Consider burning less
- Buy ‘Ready to Burn’ fuel
- Season freshly chopped wood before burning
- If you use House Coal, use approved smokeless fuels instead - such as anthracite or smokeless coals
- Do not burn treated waste wood (eg old furniture) or household rubbish
- Regularly maintain and service your stove (eg annually)
- Get your chimney swept regularly (up to twice a year)
- Preferably buy new equipment e.g. an oven, stove or wood burner, that is suitable for use in a smoke control area (these are called Exempt Appliances), as this helps minimise the amount of air pollution produced which has health benefits both for the owner and also all residents within the borough
Further information on clean burning
For more information on clean burning, as well as health effects and advice on what to burn, visit the Clean Burn Sussex website.
Make a complaint
You can report regular smoke disturbances from BBQ's, wood burning stoves, or chimneys 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:
- Your details. These will be kept private unless the case goes to court. We do not accept anonymous complaints.
- Details regarding the relevant property/premises. We will require the full exact address of the property.
- The type and frequency of the nuisance.