• About
    • Ethics policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Ownership, funding and corrections
    • Complaints procedure
    • Terms & Conditions
  • Contact
  • Support
  • Newsletter
Brighton and Hove News
20 June, 2025
  • News
    • Politics
    • Business
    • Opinion
    • Community
  • Arts and Culture
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Food and Drink
  • Sport
    • Brighton and Hove Albion
    • Cricket
  • Newsletter
  • Public notices
  • Advertise
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Politics
    • Business
    • Opinion
    • Community
  • Arts and Culture
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Food and Drink
  • Sport
    • Brighton and Hove Albion
    • Cricket
  • Newsletter
  • Public notices
  • Advertise
No Result
View All Result
Brighton and Hove News
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Citywide ban on smoky woodburners planned

by Jo Wadsworth
Tuesday 15 Nov, 2022 at 1:10PM
A A
17
Citywide ban on smoky woodburners planned

Woodburning stove. Picture by Andy Rogers from Flickr

Woodburning stove. Picture by Andy Rogers from Flickr

Councillors are being asked to approve the development of a citywide smoke control area, which would ban the use of non-certified woodburning stoves, by next year.

Burning wood on an open fire would also be outlawed, although smokeless fuels could still be burnt.

Burning seasoned wood in a stove approved by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) would still be allowed.

The measure is one of several in Brighton and Hove City Council’s Air Quality Action Plan, which councillors are asked to approve today.

A report going before the Environment, Transport and Sustainability committee this afternoon recommends: “That the committee requests officers to prioritise the development and delivery of a citywide Smoke Control Area to help tackle the harmful effects of particulate matter.”

About half of Brighton – including the city centre, St Jame’s Street, Hanover and Bevendean – is already designated a smoke control area.

Households burning outlawed fuel can be fined up to £300 by the council if it decides a household is producing too much smoke, or up to £1,000 for burning unauthorised fuel without an exempt appliance.

Outdoor barbecues, fire pits, pizza ovens and chimineas can still be used to burn any fuel.

The Air Quality Action Plan has 60 recommendations to improve air quality, aiming to increase active travel, public transport use and the need to travel, the uptake of low and zero-emission vehicles, monitoring and public awareness and emissions from buildings.

Councillor Amy Heley, co-chair of the Environment, Transport and Sustainability committee said: “I’m pleased we’ve been bold and ambitious in setting out our plans to improve air quality in Brighton & Hove.

“Air pollution is responsible for thousands of deaths in England every year and we need to do more to reduce harmful emissions which directly impact on the air we breathe.

“The quality and quantity of feedback provided into our consultation demonstrates the demands for higher standards for air quality in the city. Alongside improving our reporting and monitoring that is what we’ve done in this plan.

“These measures, together with the work we’re already doing, means we can work towards cleaner air for a healthier Brighton and Hove.”

ShareTweetShareSendSendShare

Comments 17

  1. HackedOffCitizen says:
    3 years ago

    In the mean time…
    What the people want is: a council that ensures the rubbish is collected, streets safe a clear of beggars and druggies, spending that is under control – targeted – properly accounted for . That the council-tax paying citizens are the FIRST concern of the councilors NOT their grandiose play-acting at being world-leaders..
    Get a grip of get lost.

    Reply
  2. jjgoldsmith says:
    3 years ago

    Currently 8% of the population are burning solid fuels and that accounts for more pollution than all the cars on the road. Something needs to be done and one wonders why this hasn’t been tackled before.

    Reply
  3. Jason Ross says:
    3 years ago

    If this happens I will march on the council offices. You will only take my wood-burning stove if you take it from my cold dead hands.

    Reply
    • Dr Undertaker says:
      3 years ago

      > You will only take my wood-burning stove if you take it from my cold dead hands.
      The ironic punch line to that is you’ll then get cremated and go up in smoke…

      Reply
  4. Chris says:
    3 years ago

    Yes – that’s right keep the poor cold and hungry while you blame others..

    Reply
  5. Billy Short says:
    3 years ago

    The council are busy issuing cheer leader policies, presumably ahead of next year’s elections. But you have to wonder in this case how any ban on ‘smokey’ woodburners will be policed, so this is probably more hot air.

    If you already have a wood burner it’s doubtful you’ll have to change it. it’s also ironic that many of us are using wood burners to heat single rooms, rather than use the central heating – because of rising energy costs.

    The key to good woodburning is to get a stove which does ‘secondary combustion’ which means it recycles the initial smoke over a hot plate within the stove to burn off the smoke particles. You then get much less smoke going up your chimney.
    You then restrict your fuel to well seasoned hardwood logs – where the low moisture content means less smoke when they burn.

    If you’re old school and used to open fires then I guess you have to stop using the fire or your stove for burning rubbish that you can’t recycle – because vegetable peelings or packaging will produce a lot of smoke when burned.

    I write this having had a woodburner in our Hanover house for over thirty years, and in the winter it was as loved as a family pet.
    Sadly, I don’t have one now as the installation costs at my current flat proved to be unaffordable for a ‘clean burn’ stove.

    Reply
  6. HoveLassies says:
    3 years ago

    The council is incapable of enforcing anything- planning breaches ignored, no attempts to stop cycling on the promenade in the summer, negligible noise nuisance enforcement, shabby derelict beach huts allowed to persist….. all talk and no action. Track record speaks for itself.

    Reply
  7. simon says:
    3 years ago

    Fire pits- bonfires- chimineas are ok but an efficient stove isn’t? Woke madness in Brighton I see.

    Reply
  8. Claire Grieveson says:
    3 years ago

    So it looks like I supposedly live in a smoke controlled area, yet when I complained that my neighbour was having at least two bonfires a week on the hottest days of the summer, apparently they were doing nothing wrong. But you can’t burn wood to keep warm. Odd.

    Reply
  9. Vespasian says:
    3 years ago

    Build a bonfire
    Build a bonfire…..

    Reply
  10. Bazza says:
    3 years ago

    Quite right. Bit surprised that the city was not already covered.

    Nobody should be using an open fire or a non-smokeless zone compliant stove these days. Nor burning damp wood.

    We have a wood stove that meets the latest eco stove requirements, but we are cutting down on use and will phase it out at some point.

    Sorry peeps, but we have to be grown up about this and think of others.

    Reply
  11. Soph says:
    3 years ago

    The biggest problem in my area (besides traffic fumes) is BONFIRES, the worst case being a property developer whose workmen burned off their rubbish in the back garden. Will bonfires be banned? Smokey BBQs plague us occasionally, but usually people are OK if you ask them to re-position their BBQs. A lot of it is about consideration for others (sadly lacking sometimes). Development at Toad’s Hole Valley will bring more traffic in and more pollution. Anyone who’s had pneumonia or suffers from asthma, etc, knows how frightening it can be when the air is bad.

    Reply
  12. Car Delenda Est says:
    3 years ago

    Surely it would be wise to wait until winter is over?

    Reply
  13. Mick says:
    3 years ago

    Folk are having bonfires because they can avoid the demeaning treatment they get at the local tip

    Reply
  14. Dave Hamilton says:
    2 years ago

    A year on and nothing has happened. There are no smoke control areas at all in Hove. Something needs to be done soon. It must not be forgotten that clean air legislation was brought in long ago to prevent people from dying of smog. Is there any up to date news on this important issue?

    Reply
    • Erin says:
      1 year ago

      Basically the Labour councillors stamped on it. Their “reasoning ” was they didn’t want to stop hard up people burning wood to keep warm in the energy price crisis (!) but I suspect they were looking for any excuse to distance themselves from the Greens who had very sensibly proposed it Alternatively, it’s possible that Labour are so our of touch they don’t realise that wood stoves are an expensive lifestyle item for people with more money than sense, and no regard for their neighbours, and bought as extras to gas and electric central heating systems to be run alongside, despite the pollution they generate being off the scale compared to those .

      Reply
  15. Rob Whittington says:
    1 year ago

    A good article even if the title is a little alarmist.
    For clarity, wood burning stoves aren’t being banned but the restrictions on older polluting models are being tightened.
    https://purplesweep.co.uk/f/brightons-smoke-control-zone-expansion-how-could-it-affect-you

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Most read

Condemned: 8 council blocks of flats face demolition

Crash closes A27 in both directions

Nine Inch Nails at the top of their game

Conspiracy theorist guilty of shoving trans activist

Brighton man jailed for years of abusing girls starting when he was just 10

Duo sought in connection with bag theft

Fake Uber driver convicted of kidnap and sex attacks for second time

Citywide ban on smoky woodburners planned

Tough decisions steer council finances into the black

Councillors to debate ways to manage Airbnbs

Newsletter

Arts and Culture

  • All
  • Music
  • Theatre
  • Food and Drink
‘Nice To See You’ Thistle.

‘Nice To See You’ Thistle.

20 June 2025
You aren’t doing it wrong (if no one knows what you are doing)

You aren’t doing it wrong (if no one knows what you are doing)

20 June 2025
Cruel Intentions – 90s Nostalgia and A Great Story

Cruel Intentions – 90s Nostalgia and A Great Story

20 June 2025
Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus know how to party!

Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus know how to party!

20 June 2025
Load More

Sport

  • All
  • Brighton and Hove Albion
  • Cricket
Brighton and Hove Albion sign Italy international

Brighton and Hove Albion sign Italy international

by Frank le Duc
17 June 2025
0

Brighton and Hove Albion have signed a 21-year-old Italy international to add to the Seagulls’ defensive options. Diego Coppola has...

Sussex Sharks open T20 Blast with a win

Sussex Sharks stay top of their group with T20 triumph at Glamorgan

by Blake Bint - ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
14 June 2025
0

Glamorgan 172 (18.5 overs) Sussex 199-7 (20 overs) Sussex won by 27 runs. Sussex 4 points, Glamorgan 0 points. Sussex...

Sussex Sharks open T20 Blast with a win

Rain saves Sussex Sharks in T20 against Essex at Hove

by Adrian Colley
13 June 2025
0

Sussex 23-3 (3.1 overs) Essex 177-4 (17 overs) No result Essex’s hopes of claiming their first win of the season...

Brighton and Hove Albion announce Kostoulas signing

Brighton and Hove Albion announce Kostoulas signing

by Frank le Duc
12 June 2025
0

Brighton and Hove Albion have announced the signing of 18-year-old striker Charalampos Kostoulas from Greek champions Olympiacos on a five-year...

Load More
November 2022
M T W T F S S
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
282930  
« Oct   Dec »

RSS From Sussex News

  • Sex attacker’s victim died days after court ordered retrial 19 June 2025
  • Jury convicts fake Uber driver of kidnap and sex attacks for second time 19 June 2025
  • A27 closed in both directions after crash 19 June 2025
  • Hospital trust agrees six-figure payout after seven-year battle over traumatic birth 17 June 2025
  • CPS drops rape case against Sussex Police officer 17 June 2025
ADVERTISEMENT
  • About
  • Contact
  • Support
  • Newsletter
  • Privacy
  • Complaints
  • Ownership, funding and corrections
  • Ethics
  • T&C

© 2023 Brighton and Hove News

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Opinion
  • Arts and Culture
    • Music
    • Theatre
  • Sport
    • Cricket
  • Newsletter
  • Public notices
  • Advertise
  • About
  • Contact

© 2023 Brighton and Hove News