The woodsure scheme, do we need it?

[Peasgood]

5 minutes ago, Stubby said:

Ok . So someone dobs you in . Who do they dob you in to

Special Branch.

[Stubby]

Just now, Peasgood said:

Special Branch.

I thought Andy would have come back with that sooner  😁. In all seriousness I can't se it working . Ok those who register will be fine those who don't , who already have a good product and  regular customers will still be ok .

[trigger_andy]

I thought Andy would have come back with that sooner  [emoji16]. In all seriousness I can't se it working . Ok those who register will be fine those who don't , who already have a good product and  regular customers will still be ok .

I hope you’re right. But never underestimate the ability of people to be vindictive sneaky little bitches. 🤣If they’re paying into it and you’re not and there’s a path to eliminate you and take your customers then I can see some doing just that.

[doobin]

2 hours ago, trigger_andy said:

 

 

I hope you’re right. But never underestimate the ability of people to be vindictive sneaky little bitches. 🤣If they’re paying into it and you’re not and there’s a path to eliminate you and take your customers then I can see some doing just that.

I hear you, but it would take more than that to eliminate you.

 

From Woodsure website:

 

Enforcement

A common question we have been getting relates to enforcement. This is covered under Part 6 of the new Regulations and identifies local authorities as the body responsible for enforcement of the Regulations. For the purposes of the regulation, “local authority” means—

• the Common Council for the City of London;
• London Borough Council;
• the Council of the Isles of Scilly;
• a county council;
• a district council for an area in which there is no county council.

There are a number of measures available for the local authority to assist in enforcing the regulations, such as:

1. enter a supplier’s premises at any reasonable time;
2. inspect a supplier’s goods;
3. make test purchases of a supplier’s goods;
4. require a supplier to produce documents or to provide information;
5. question a supplier or officers or employees of a supplier.

Additionally, compliance checks can be undertaken. An enforcement officer may check:

• small bags of wood are sold with the Ready to Burn logo, certification number and supplier or manufacturer details displayed correctly
• certification details against the certification list
• correct information on drying is provided to customers for wood fuel volumes of 2 cubic metres or more
• sales records (including sales to third-party retailers)
• how you’re storing wood (so that you aren’t selling it to customers damaged or wet)
• delivery records to households within smoke control areas

Fines

You could be fined if:

• you sell unauthorised fuel
• you’ve stored fuel so it has a moisture content of more than 20%
• the fuel does not have the ‘Ready to Burn’ logo or is not labelled correctly

You could get a:

• £300 fixed penalty fine issued by your local authority
• fine of more than £300 depending on the severity of the offence issued by the courts

 

Councils are understaffed enough as it is. I can't see much enforcement if any happening anytime soon. I'll chance the £300 fine!

[DocMustard]

The problem isn't the retailers of firewood, it is the bloody morons who don't have a clue about the moisture holding properties of wood and try to burn it wet (even when the wood may have been sold to them dry), don't understand the 'physics of fire' such that they produce a load of smouldering embers and in many cases don't know how their appliances actually work so can't adjust airflow, for example, to alter the characteristics of the fire.

 

I source my own firewood, from diseased trees that have been condemned and felled. I season it for over 2 years under cover outdoors with plenty of airflow, cutting and splitting it to let it dry out. If my stocks get high, I may sell a bag on to a family member. There isn't a woodsure logo to be seen, but the logs sure burn brilliantly because we know what we are doing. 

 

The legislation is being forced in because of idiots who don't have a clue. 

[nepia]

Well you wouldn't expect a successfully lobbied government to actually target the right people would you?  They wouldn't vote the right way again if the government did!

[Rob_the_Sparky]

Does this scheme prevent the delivery of arb waste or is it only relevant if the wood is in ready to burn sized chunks?  I'm interested as most of the wood I burn is delivered this way but supply seems a bit thin this year.

[openspaceman]

38 minutes ago, Rob_the_Sparky said:

Does this scheme prevent the delivery of arb waste or is it only relevant if the wood is in ready to burn sized chunks?  I'm interested as most of the wood I burn is delivered this way but supply seems a bit thin this year.

It's an interesting one in that it seems to be all encompassing as it says

 

"for the purposes of combustion in domestic premises in England;"

 

so that it is in a raw form makes no difference.

 

but the real ambiguous bit is

 

"a person supplies a relevant solid fuel if the person supplies such a fuel by way of sale from or by means of—"

 

which I think means money must change hands, or is it any supply?

[Peasgood]

Pretty sure a lot of it is down to the trendies within the M25 burning window frames and fence panels in their log burners causing excess air particles as a result.

[Gav73]

 
"a person supplies a relevant solid fuel if the person supplies such a fuel by way of sale from or by means of—"
 

It’s typical of any legislation, vague enough to cover all the angles they might want it too, but not specific enough so everyone knows exactly where they stand!

It reminds me of a local genius who got round the alcohol licensing by selling crisps from an old ice cream - you’d call his number and he’d come over to sell you a bag of crisps for £5 and you got 4 cans free.

He traded for a number of years, much to the annoyance of the licensing guys, until the legislation was changed to the current vague version.