OUR FOURTEEN YEAR CAMPAIGN TO CONTROL NUISANCE BONFIRES
ALL OVER THE U.K.!

Join our campaign for CleanFreshAir without pollutants such as
BONFIRE SMOKE, TRAFFIC FUMES AND INDUSTRIAL SMELLS

Contact us: bonfires at horstedkeynes dot com

Unfortunately due to a lack of contributions we have had to scale back our campaign.
We are very sorry if we are unable to reply to your letters as speedily as before.

Mention the village of Horsted Keynes in Sussex and air pollution is not the first thing to come to mind. For some reason however we seem to have a number of miscreants who light wet bonfires and then rush inside behind their double glazed windows.

Your webmaster suffers from an illness that can make breating difficult - this is why I live in a rural area and have done so for nearly 50 years. I live here where there are fewer traffic fumes, but it seems that recently some people have started to think that they can do whatever they like whenever they like and can completely ignore upsetting other villagers. In fact I feel that some people don't even think of anyone but themselves any more! Smoke can drift a long way when there is little wind and a fire lit at the top of a hill can spread a long way. I hope this helps explain why I have written this page on the village website.

There are now more than a dozen letters from other local people who agree with the sentiments on this page. Surely in this increasingly selfish and inconsiderate society it's time for something positive to be done to make our air breathable all day, every day?

BEYOND SELFISH!

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Horsted Keynes, the sun was warm and the air clear. Children played in the sunshine and mothers took the opportunity to dry their washing.

Then at 1:30 in the afternoon a resident of Boxes Lane decided to light a bonfire! There was no rain forecast, no foreseeable urgency, but they still decided the time was ideal to fill the air with debris and smoke residents back indoors. Is it possible that people are so selfish or is this how England is changing, to a country where if something is not strictly illegal people just do as they like?

Mentions of village neighbourliness and British wartime spirit just fall on deaf ears as this sort of person does not understand history and obviously cares not a tot for their neighbours.

What these self same residents forget is that every time they perform an anti-social act it is recorded by all the neighbours affected and has by law to be declared when they come to sell and move on. This in turn may well affect the value of their own property - perhaps the smokers don't understand, perhaps they are rich lottery winners, perhaps they just don't care.

17 April 2011

 2011 The first warm weekend ruined by selfish bonfire lighters

Until now this website has been restrained and polite. People these days tend to not understand restrained or polite messages of any sort, so it is perhaps time we started to talk more loudly. Even perhaps when all else fails SHOUTING is necessary!

Quite simply in our part of the village the first warm Sunday of 2011 was ruined by someone in a nearby road not only lighting a bonfire on Sunday lunchtime, not only attempting to burn something that was wet and poorly stacked (probably just a pile of cut grass clippings on top of some old newspaper), but because it was not properly lit the whole thing was left to smoulder all night long! This meant that not only did we have to come inside on a pleasant day, we were unable to open our doors or windows all evening as the smoke and smell invaded our home. Our clothes stank and smelled and had to be laundered.

We feel certain that the fumes (for that is what they were) may well have been harmful too. Yet what do we - and every other resident in the village - do when this happens? Nothing! Fearful that we might upset others by complaining!

I'm sorry, but this problem has got to be sorted out and we are now stridently campaigning for a change in the law - either local or national.

Something must be done to stop people lighting bonfires in daytime or when there is no wind. To ensure that when lit they are made of combustible materials and that they are never left unattended. This will at a shot stop people leaving their fires to smoulder overnight which must be made an offence with a substantial fine for miscreants. Naming and shaming might also work.

Surely in this day and age the EEC, who let's face it don't do that much for us, should at least ensure that we are all able to breathe in clean air?

I think that some people retire and move into what they see as "the country" and believe that they are then able to ignore the rules of polite society. Have parties and let off fireworks late at night and generally do as they want. That has never been how England works, and the attitude seems a fairly recent development. Perhaps it is time to go back to earlier times?

So why not ask your local councillor what is their view about bonfires before the local elections?

I will be doing precisely that, and reporting their replies on this page.

bonfireblues at horstedkeynes dot com

LATE SUMMER WARMTH = MORE BONFIRES

We have been contacted by three residents this week asking if there is anything that the Parish Council can do about the people who light up bonfires without a moments thought for their neighbours.

The last Saturday in September was absolutely glorious with no wind and an afternoon temperature of 20 degrees. Many villagers tried to make up for our appalling summer by sitting out even eating outside yet at both ends of the village smoke hung in the still air. Yes we do appreciate that one resident waited until after 6 p.m. to light up but given the totally still (indeed foggy) conditions, this must still be regarded as being a nuisance. After all with no wind where could the smoke go?

We certainly think that this country has enough rules and regulations but it does seem that common sense consideration for others has gone out of the window so perhaps it is time for (yet another) new law.

Along with this will of course come a man in van wearing a yellow waterproof jacket over his stab vest. On his back will be a blue sign saying not "Police", "Community Support Officer" or even "Civil Enforcement Officer" (all of which have been seen in Haywards Heath recently) but perhaps "Air Pollution Control Officer"?

Yes because of a few inconsiderate people it may HAVE to happen, even here in glorious Sussex!

Rob.

Letter just received...

"There are two sorts of people, those who light bonfires when there is no wind to blow the smoke away - they are ignorant bastards, and those who suffer from the smoke."

As an asthma sufferer I can only applaud your stand against inconsiderate bonfires. In the last year I have spent three periods in hospital, at least one of these caused by bonfire smoke.

I believe the worst offenders are those who are too crafty to light their bonfires during the evening. If they did this then at least we could close our windows at night. It's when you wake up in the middle of the night with an asthma attack caused by the smoke from a bonfire lit after the pubs turn out. Burning garden rubbish is bad enough, but when they put plastic and household rubbish on as well then it's just asking for trouble.

There are two sorts of people, those who light bonfires when there is no wind to blow the smoke away - they are ignorant bastards, and those who suffer from the smoke. If only one could make the other understand then perhaps a change in the law wouldn't be needed, but I think that it is.

Keep up the good work, I have sent a small donation.

(signed) Mary McCloud.

Thank you for highlighting the menace of the very few residents who insist on lighting up their stinking smokey bonfires without a thought for their neighbours, often the same people who like to hold dinner parties in their gardens in the evening. I wonder if these people realise that they are probably costing themselves a lot of money?

Let's suppose that they want to sell their property - the same property that they have spent lots of cash renovating. Would you buy a house in a zone where you can't use your garden if your neighbour has just cut their grass and lit another stinking bonfire? No we wouldn't either, but even if they would the value must be lower and this is affecting us all.

I wonder how much each bonfire costs us in lost property values? Probably rather more than a trip to the Burgess Hill dump! Horsted Keynes is becoming the bonfire capital of Sussex!

Signed, but withheld by request.

(Webmasters note, the Forest Row dump is closer, and the Parish Council still have a FREE tanker visit a couple of times each year.)

Three days is two too many!

We local residents who have breathing difficulties do appreciate it when our neighbours wait until a turn in the weather to light up, for the last couple of weeks we have been in a drought with a hosepipe ban imposed, and when we heard the lawnmowers we knew that it wouldn't be long before the smoke started. What, wait for the clippings to dry up before setting fire to them, that would be too considerate.

The only problem was they decided to light their bonfire (of green grass cuttings remember) in a shower. The shower turned into rain, and the rain into a tempest, but still every time there was a pause in the wet they relit their smouldering pile (with plastic covered cardboard from the smell). Last night the air was filled with debris and bits of paper ash which hang in the air like snow.

It's now Thursday afternoon and the sun has come out, my wife tried to dry some washing but an hour later the smoke and dreadful smell returned! The children are at home for 6 weeks and with the return of sunshine might have liked to get away from the TV, only they would have to breathe carcinogenic smoke, the neighbours certainly don't care about that sort of thing!

If they can legislate for an Olympic games then surely inconsiderate bonfires shouldn't be impossible to control. Please, please, let's get this bonfire menace sorted.

Another disgusted resident

There IS a way to do it properly.

So how DO you get rid of garden rubbish? Simply burn it, but try doing it this way!

First choose a day when there is a wind to blow all the smoke away but there isn't a gale blowing (we'd have thought that every villager could understand that one!). Second, make sure that the bonfire is dry and that it is hot enough. Third ONLY burn refuse that is safe. Do NOT burn plastic or coated cardboard. Do NOT burn furniture or chipboard. These produce carcinogenic chemicals and YOU are likely to be nearest to the conflagration! (Unless you are a villager who lights up and then hides indoors with your double glazing closed, In that case we don't think you'll be reading this anyway, and you deserve all that you get!).

Start by building a fire of wood, get it roaring hot. Then, and only then add your rubbish. This will have the effect of heating up the rubbish so that it burns completely and makes the smoke rise high up into the air. Keep adding rubbish as the fire burns through.

Never put a newspaper under a pile of wet leaves and leave it smoulder. This should be illegal in our opinion! Do it this way and you will dispose of the rubbish cleanly and safely as well as keeping your neighbours happy!
 

WE ARE NOT SURE IF WE SHOULD RECOMMEND THIS BUT WE HAVE BEEN ASSURED THAT AS A LAST MEASURE IF YOU THINK THAT YOUR NEIGHBOUR'S FIRE IS DANGEROUS OR IS UNATTENDED YOU ARE AT LIBERTY TO CALL OUT THE FIRE BRIGADE. THIS IS NOT AN ABUSE IF YOU HAVE GOOD REASON AND IS EVEN SUGGESTED. CHECK THE WEST SUSSEX FIRE BRIGADE WEB SITE!
A FIRE ENGINE AT THE DOOR WILL CERTAINLY MAKE E'M THINK NEXT TIME!

Black smoke drifts past the HorstedKeynes.Com web camera on a warm April evening.

7 April

August 5th.,

If you are reading this later in the year then this is the week of the highest temperatures this year, and perhaps (at the time of writing) the highest hereabouts for many millennia! Perhaps then you can understand the ire of the four residents who have written to us in the last week complaining about their neighbours lighting bonfires during this heat wave. Unfortunately of the four emails received only one has agreed (so far) to have their letter published. It is self explanatory.

Perhaps now is the time to raise the matter with your Parish Councillor.
You can find them listed here, we leave it up to you.

Any further views from either side are welcome and will be published here if permission is granted.
Please email to webmaster-at-horstedkeynes.com . (Change -at- to an @ symbol)

July / August

While this exceptionally hot spell of weather continues may we urge ALL residents to NOT light up their bonfires. Whilst many villagers have heeded our request some others seem to think that it is all right to light their monster in the evening. As those of us who sleep with our windows open will tell you the breeze often drops to nothing at night, so the smoke just hangs in the air until dawn. Villagers who have breathing problems often find the night time far worse than the day and this is the time of the highest number of hospital admissions for breathing problems. Please think of others.

By the way did you know that you can now be fined up to £5000 for burning plastic on your bonfire? It has always been an offence to pollute the air but councils now have the power to prosecute people who burn anything other than "combustible garden and household waste" OR whose fires emit "dark smoke". Some cardboard boxes have a plastic coating which lets off cyanide when burnt! Even if you aren't worried about your neighbours health, your plants won't appreciate a dose of poison.

You are entitled to call out the fire brigade if you feel that a bonfire is dangerous. Thank you from all of us who need to breathe clean air

There have been no updates to this page since last year when we managed to get the subject of inconsiderate bonfire smoke mentioned in the Mid Sussex Times as well as on Meridian TV. Unfortunately with the return of warm weather we again find our enjoyment of outside marred by a few ignorant or just plain selfish villagers who think nothing of lighting up their bonfires with a gallon of petrol and some plastic bags!

Once again we ask you to remember those of us who have problems with their breathing and for whom the smell of bonfire smoke means us having to run indoors with the windows tight shut followed by a trip to the bathroom cabinet to find their inhaler. The ironic thing is we have been told that some people retired here as they thought that the air would be fresher than in town!

Yes we do appreciate that you have to get rid of your rubbish but what we do ask is that you wait until there is a wind to blow the smoke away before starting a bonfire. If you just can't wait until then at least wait until the late evening before lighting up, however many of us enjoy sleeping with their bedroom windows open, and to be honest why should you force us to close them?

If you would like to comment on this page (either way, for or against) then please send an email to the webmasters who will be pleased to include your mail. We are quite happy to respect confidentiality. Our address is webmaster-at-horstedkeynes.com; to save spam we always show email addresses like this, just replace -at- with the @ symbol.

     You may have read the piece in the local paper (repeated below) which was inspired by an actual event in the village last weekend. Naturally we all need to get rid of our garden waste, but why oh why do some villagers have to light bonfires of damp material on warm Summer evenings? Perhaps they are afraid of insects invading their garden, perhaps they just don't like to see a mess, either way there are in our village a few people who just don't give a fig for anyone else. They have paid handsomely for their home and now they live in the country they feel that they can do what they like, can't they?  (Residents who have lived here all their lives seem far less likely to offend in this way.)

     Well, yes they can burn their rubbish, there are no bylaws (unfortunately) to stop us lighting up anytime at all (unless the smoke goes over a road when the Road Traffic Acts come into play). The local council help us by paying for the dustcart to visit the car park several times a year but that is not enough. back door

     We know of one case where a bonfire was lit on a Saturday afternoon when a near neighbour was getting married! Nobody complained, they were too busy running round slamming windows and trying to stop the bride's dress smelling like an old chimney when she walked down the aisle. All the beribboned cars were covered in ash and the afternoon would have been ruined if someone (nobody is saying who!) called in the fire brigade! The men from Haywards Heath arrived with sirens blaring and should have been extremely annoyed. However, they looked at the circumstances judged that the fire was "out of control" - the neighbour having lit his fire had retired to the Green Man - so they set to with their hoses. His garden was awash for days and our boozing fire raiser got the message. He has never reoffended and now warns his neighbours before lighting a fire - all without a word being mentioned of the incident - until today!

     This is obviously not the answer for most people but may we as a concerned residents ask that you please consider your neighbours - particularly if there are babies, young children or older people close by - and only "light up" when the wind is set fair to blow the stuff away, preferably wait until Autumn. As a final thought, do not, repeat not, burn any plastic on your bonfire. The fumes even in tiny quantities are carcinogenic, that is proven fact.

     You will be old one day, let's hope when you are your neighbours are considerate and you don't have breathing difficulties to add to your woes. Thank you.

If you would care to comment on the above please do get in touch by email