Council advice on garden bonfires
Each year almost one hundred complaints about
the nuisance caused by garden bonfires are received by the
environmental services team at Malvern Hills District
Council. Many of those complaints are due to fires being lit
on sunny days and evenings, causing disruption to neighbours.
The council advises residents that there are
other ways to dispose of garden waste.which do not cause a nuisance
to neighbours. They are keen to promote the idea of
home composting. Thanks to a special county council scheme,
residents can now order a discount compost bin delivered to their
front door. A wide range of compost bins are available
including wormeries and Bokash. To find out more visit:
http://www.hw.getcomposting.com/
or call 0844 571 4444.
The council would also like to remind
residents of their year-round garden waste collection service,
collecting all your compostable waste in brown bins for just £60 a
year.
Councillor Bronwen Behan, Portfolio Holder for
Environmental Control at MHDC advises:
“We are very keen to remind residents of the
Garden Waste Collection service that is available and which is
proving to be very popular. The service offers great value
for money and the large increase in the number of residents taking
advantage of it is very encouraging. It makes disposing of
garden waste easy, avoiding the need for bonfires altogether.
“
For more information on the garden waste
collection service, please call the Customer Service Team on 01684
862151.
Residents can also dispose of garden waste at
household waste sites. Bonfires should be considered as a
last resort and the council offers tips on how to burn waste
responsibly.
If it is absolutely necessary for you to have
a bonfire, then we suggest that you let all garden waste dry out
before burning and other waste, such as rubber, plastics or
household waste should definitely never be burnt. Any timber being
burnt should be “clean”, for example, not previously painted or
comprising of formica or chipboard. Smoke nuisance is however not
just limited to garden bonfires. The Council regularly receives
complaints regarding commercial bonfires such as from
building sites. The same advice is applicable but it is
strongly recommended that materials should be disposed of in a skip
or to a licensed site.
More information about bonfire pollution can
be found here on our website by clicking here:
bonfires.
