Is your fire pit or chimenea making coronavirus worse?
Don't make life unbearable for neighbours suffering Covid-19 symptoms
Is smoke from your garden making coronavirus worse for your vulnerable neighbours?
With the warm spring weather, councils are receiving increasing complaints from residents about smoke from fire pits and chimeneas, as well as bonfires, making life unpleasant - and in some cases harmful – for people living nearby.
As the Covid-19 pandemic spreads, more people are suffering symptoms that include difficulty breathing; this can be made worse by smoke created by some thoughtless residents lighting fire pits and chimeneas, which are increasingly popular and are a growing pollution problem - or burning garden waste and other rubbish at all times of the day.
Eastleigh Borough Council’s Pollution Control team will act on complaints where they can during the lockdown period - especially where there is persistent black smoke or noxious fumes - and where photographic evidence which shows location, duration and dates is available. Householders and businesses can be fined for creating a persistent smoke nuisance.
The Council is urging residents to refrain from lighting fire pits and chimneas – and to compost garden prunings or grass clipping, sign up for the fortnightly garden waste bin collection service – or store garden waste and other items at home until the County Council’s household waste and recycling centres re-open.
The Council’s Cabinet Member for Health, Councillor Tonia Craig, said: “With an increasing number of people suffering from the distressing and often dangerous symptoms of Covid-19, not lighting your fire pit or chimenea - and finding alternatives to burning waste – seems a small price to pay for protecting the health of your neighbours. We’re appealing to all Eastleigh residents to refrain from creating smoke during this already challenging period. The Council can and will take action against people who do cause a persistent nuisance.“