‘I’m worried about my children’s health’: Councils failing to clamp down on wood burning complaints

New figures uncovered by an air pollution campaign group reveal that Lambeth council has not carried out any enforcement on complaints made about smoke from domestic burning in the borough over the past two years.

The data – retrieved from a Freedom of Information (FOI) request made by Mums for Lungs  – shows 108 complaints about smoke from domestic fires were made to the council between January 2022 and September 2023.

But no fines or prosecutions were carried out by the local authority in response. 

Merel Krediet, 36, of Brixton Hill, Brixton, is a volunteer for Mums for Lungs and said she was worried for the health of her three young children as a result of the smoke in her neighbourhood.

She said: “It’s terrible that the complaints are being ignored. The smell of wood burning in our neighbourhood has become a daily occurrence and at times gets into my children’s bedroom, even when we have the windows shut. 

“Knowing how toxic wood smoke is, I’m very worried about the short and long-term impact it will have on their health.”

Wood burning has now overtaken traffic as one of the biggest sources of one of the most harmful types of air pollution, tiny particles known as PM2.5, which increased by 35 per cent between 2010 and 2020, according to Government data.

Ms Krediet said: “I don’t think the information is very available – people don’t know how toxic and harmful it is.”

The lack of enforcement is not only an issue in Lambeth. 

Figures from the parent campaigners’ FOI request show only one prosecution and three fines have been issued by councils for wood burning in nearly two years across the whole country, despite more than 10,600 complaints being received by local authorities.

In January 2023, the Government promised to introduce new legislation to reduce the limit that wood burning stoves could emit from 5g smoke per hour to 3g. But a year on, no legislation has been introduced.

A spokeswoman from Mums for Lungs said: “Relying on community complaints as the sole means of addressing the pollution from wood burning is unacceptable. Local authorities don’t clearly understand their role in implementation and the Government isn’t providing the communication support it has stated would be available.”

A spokesman from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs said: “Our Environment Act made it easier for local authorities to act on pollution from domestic burning in smoke control areas and it is their legal duty to do that by issuing fines as they deem necessary. We work closely with them to improve awareness and understanding of those rules.

“Through the Air Quality Grant scheme, we have also provided funding to a number of London Boroughs to allow them to address local issues and raise awareness of the impacts to health from exposure to particulate matter from domestic burning.”

Lambeth council have been approached for comment.

Pictured Top: Mums for Lungs at a protest calling on the Government to enforce regulations for cleaner air (Picture: Mums for Lungs)