The Parish Council has recently received a number of complaints about the impact of domestic bonfires on neighbouring properties. Please, if you are considering having a bonfire, consider your neighbours, particularly at this time when many elderly and frail individuals, or those with underlying health conditions which might be exacerbated by smoke inhalation can only enjoy their immediate gardens, due to health guidelines in response to the COVID-19 health emergency.
You can find the guidelines on Mid Suffolk District Council’s website, here, together with information on how to make a formal complaint: https://www.babergh.gov.uk/environment/noise-and-disturbance/smoke-smells-and-other-nuisances/
If you must have a bonfire follow these guidelines to avoid causing a nuisance and to keep safe:
- Keep the number of bonfires to an absolute minimum.
- Only burn dry material. This will produce the minimum of smoke.
- Never burn household rubbish, rubber tyres, or anything containing plastic, foam or paint. The Council will collect domestic hazardous waste for a small fee – see our Hazardous Waste Collections page for details.
- Never use old engine oil, methylated spirit or petrol to light or encourage the fire.
- Avoid lighting a fire in unsuitable weather conditions. Smoke hangs in the air on damp, still days and in the evening around sunset – ensure the bonfire is extinguished well before.
- If it is windy, smoke may be blown into neighbours’ gardens and across roads.
- Keep the bonfire under adult supervision at all times and ensure it is extinguished completely, by dousing with soil or water, before you leave it.
- Keep a hose pipe or buckets of water close at hand in case the fire gets out of hand.
- Take account of your neighbours’ activities e.g. washing hanging on a line, open windows, sitting in garden, decorating etc.
- Consult, or at least warn, your neighbour before lighting a bonfire.