Agenda item - Solid Fuel Burning

Report of the Corporate Director, City Services (copy attached).

18.1    The Chair opened the first item of business, a paper on the risks of solid

fuel burning, and the actions being taken to mitigate these risks ahead of the winter heating season.  The paper was presented by Jim Whitelegg, Interim Head of Safer Communities. Andrew Renaut, Transport Planning Technical Lead; and Samuel Rouse, Principal Emissions and Air Quality, were also on hand to answer questions.

18.2    Jim Whitelegg reported that there has been a resurgence in the use of burning wood logs and that this is causing a health risk from air-borne pollution from particulate matter; and environmental concerns such as using green or treated logs and issues with Elm disease and bringing this into the city. There are 2 teams dealing with environmental legislation: Trading Standards deal with the sale of fuel and Environmental Health investigate complaints of smoke. Brighton & Hove City Council have had 500 smoke complaints over 5 years of which 12 were regarding chimney smoke. The vast majority are in relation to bonfires. 500 smoke complaints over 5 years is relatively low in comparison to the 3000 complaints per year received by Environmental Health.

18.3    Jim Whitelegg summarised the recommendations around a public awareness campaign, increased monitoring of air quality to achieve better data collection and an enforcement pilot.

18.4    The Chair opened up the floor to questions. Cllr Rowkins, Cabinet Lead for Net Zero & Environmental Services, joined the meeting and took questions from members.

18.5    Cllr Thomson asked for more information on the 3 pronged approach in terms of enforcement. Jim Whitelegg explained that the approach would start with the awareness campaign and they will be looking at links that DEFRA have provided as well as looking at other Local Authorities such as Bristol for best practice. The general public will be encouraged to contact the Council if they have issues regarding solid fuel burners.

18.6    Mark Strong asked if officers could confirm that even DEFRA approved stoves still produce a high level of toxic emissions within the home and people think that since the burner isn’t emitting smoke, it is therefore safe but there are still health implications. Samuel Rouse, Principal Emissions and Air Quality, confirmed that these items are certified for lower emissions and agreed that there is some smoke emitted and health risk involved. Following a question from Cllr Evans, Samuel Rouse explained that gas boilers also produce some toxins, specifically gas nitrogen dioxide, and that boilers tend to be used for more hours than fuel burners, fireplaces and stoves.

18.7    Cllr Rowkins stated that there is a clear impact on public health; there are 5 smoke control areas marked on the map but they are not enforced. These control zones need to be meaningful, and more information is needed to understand the impact on air quality in these areas. The public awareness campaign would be city wide, advising that it’s best not to use burners at all in these areas. There will be consideration of expanding the control zones and introducing enforcement but there are resourcing issues. Cllr Rowkins acknowledged that an enforcement system should not be reliant on the public submitting complaints. The approach would be focussed on educating the public rather than immediately setting fines and would encourage a shift in behaviour. The improved air quality monitoring capability will provide a better picture of pollution city wide including away from roads and how much is generated from fuel burning. This data will be analysed to get a more accurate understanding of the role of fuel burners in the city.

18.8    Cllr Fishleigh asked whether there would be an enforcement taskforce going around the smoke control areas in the evenings. Cllr Rowkins responded that there are limited resources for enforcement currently available. There is some DEFRA funding available. Cllr Fishleigh commented on a new development near Rottingdean that applied to install wood burners and was refused. Cllr Fishleigh wanted to know if banning burners in new builds would be included in the next draft of the City Plan. There is a current plan in Saltdean that includes this.

18.9    Cllr Lyons suggested that rogue signs appearing on roundabouts advertising wood logs should be removed immediately.

18.10  Cllr Sheard referred to paragraph 3.8 in the report and suggested removing the word “unnecessarily” as those who are burning wood may believe it is a cheaper option for them and deem it necessary.  Cllr Rowkins explained that it isn’t generally cheaper to burn wood than use central heating.

18.11  Cllr Evans suggested adding “fire safety” to the recommendations and to change the emphasis on the communications campaign to focus on the invisible danger to health. Mark Strong agreed that health is the biggest driver to people’s culture change and that some groups in the community are doing good work on this. Hackney Council is also a good example to look at. Cllr Pickett agreed that health issue is the way to message this and that people think burners are safe and they are wrong. Cllr Pickett raised the issue of reaching out to older people and using different messaging considering the loss of their winter fuel allowance.

18.12  Cllr Picket welcomed the plan to include information about diseased elm logs and their effect on the city.

18.13  Cllr Sheard stated that we can’t talk about smoke control zones without talking about enforcement. Jim Whitelegg explained that officers will investigate if complaints are received and may issue a penalty notice if they are in the zone. The approach is to educate first and then enforce. It would not be a good use of resources to have patrol teams. A discussion needs to be had about the pilot enforcement scheme.

18.14  Cllr Winder asked about the data being collected and how it will show that a reduction in the use of fuel burners will lead to cleaner air. Samuel Rouse explained that the increased monitoring will demonstrate this. The monitors produce graphs on a dashboard with clear peaks and troughs over periods of time. There are 20 new monitors being introduced away from main roads and in neighbourhoods. These monitors will have a live feed that the public can access. There will be an interactive map supported by numerical information including the impact on public health. This will be launched in October.

18.15  Cllr Grimshaw asked about the 12 complaints regarding wood burners mentioned in the report and whether they were investigated. There is also a concern that due to the increase in energy bills, some people may go into the local woods to gather their own logs to burn and that they may need some form of support once enforcement comes in as this might be habitual. Jim Whitelegg explained that people will be signposted to relevant agencies for support with their bills and that he will look in to what happened with the 12 complaints.

18.16  Cllr Evans asked about the timescale for the enforcement pilot within the existing areas. Jim Whitelegg explained that the first stage will be the public awareness campaign, that there is some enforcement work going on already into the supply of logs and they are looking at the end of the year to start the pilot. The stage after that would be looking at behaviour change.

18.17  Cllr Pickett asked about timescales for the decision to expand smoke control zones. Cllr Rowkins explained that this would be informed by future work as anything that is decided needs to be impactful. The challenge is how to educate the public and do enforcement with the current resources, but the improved monitoring data will potentially add weight to the argument for additional resource. Cllr Evans suggested getting some information into schools as a way of encouraging adult behaviour change. Samuel Rouse reported on some of the work that SUSTRANs are doing in schools such as educational events like Clean Air Day and Clean Air Night.

18.18  Cllr Evans proposed an amendment to the report recommendations to read:

2.1 Place Overview & Scrutiny Committee notes the contents of the report.

2.2 Place Overview & Scrutiny Committee welcomes the planned actions around raising awareness of the risks associated with solid fuel burning and investigating instances of wood-burning in building fireplaces and stoves, as outlined in paragraph 3.8 of the report

Specifically the committee recommends:

2.3 • Targeted messages and communications to raise awareness of the health and fire safety impacts of burning solid fuels by developing a communications and messaging strategy that draws on good practice and material from other agencies, local authorities and voluntary groups, with a focus on pointing out the invisible health and fire safety risks

2.4 • An enforcement pilot within the existing Smoke Control Areas starting with the above mentioned communications towards the end of 2024 and continuing into next year

2.5 • Assessing the outputs from new sources of data, including new monitoring networks, with a specific focus on particulates from solid fuels, to help inform future actions.

18.19 Cllr Grimshaw seconded the amendment.

18.20  It was discussed and decided that the work on solid fuel burning would be brought back to Place Overview & Scrutiny Committee at its meeting in June/July 2025.

RESOLVED – that

2.1 Place Overview & Scrutiny Committee notes the contents of the report.

2.2 Place Overview & Scrutiny Committee welcomes the planned actions

around raising awareness of the risks associated with solid fuel burning and investigating instances of wood-burning in building fireplaces and stoves, as outlined in paragraph 3.8 of the report

Specifically the committee recommends:

2.3 Targeted messages and communications to raise awareness of the health and fire safety impacts of burning solid fuels by developing a communications and messaging strategy that draws on good practice and material from other agencies, local authorities and voluntary groups, with a focus on pointing out the invisible health and fire safety risks

2.4 An enforcement pilot within the existing Smoke Control Areas starting with the above mentioned communications towards the end of 2024 and continuing into next year

2.5 Assessing the outputs from new sources of data, including new monitoring networks, with a specific focus on particulates from solid fuels, to help inform future actions.