Fires, illegal or not in these circumstances?

[Les Day]

Hi all. We have permission from a farmer to have the occasional burn up of unsuitable wood/palms, roots etc. Its in a deep, purpose built concrete square & theres only one house within a quarter mile, otherwise farmland. On the rare occasion we burn, maybe once every 2/3 months, we check the wind direction isn't towards her house & stay on site until its almost gone. The lone woman in that house threatens to call fire brigade, environmental health etc the next time we burn but I've spoken to the farmer who is fine & suggests the odd bottle of wine to keep her calm but I don't want to start that. We even call the fire brigade if the green stuff will cause smoke & I called the local environmental health yesterday to ask for their opinion. They said no problem so long we continue to be considerate but really my question is...at what point does our waste to be burnt become industrial waste? Its mostly the result of domestic work & I assume once loaded onto our vans, it becomes our property? Am I wrong do you think?

[Stubby]

4 minutes ago, Les Day said:

Hi all. We have permission from a farmer to have the occasional burn up of unsuitable wood/palms, roots etc. Its in a deep, purpose built concrete square & theres only one house within a quarter mile, otherwise farmland. On the rare occasion we burn, maybe once every 2/3 months, we check the wind direction isn't towards her house & stay on site until its almost gone. The lone woman in that house threatens to call fire brigade, environmental health etc the next time we burn but I've spoken to the farmer who is fine & suggests the odd bottle of wine to keep her calm but I don't want to start that. We even call the fire brigade if the green stuff will cause smoke & I called the local environmental health yesterday to ask for their opinion. They said no problem so long we continue to be considerate but really my question is...at what point does our waste to be burnt become industrial waste? Its mostly the result of domestic work & I assume once loaded onto our vans, it becomes our property? Am I wrong do you think?

From what you say you don't have a problem .

[GarethM]

Technically it's illegal, as it's not the farmer own stuff he's burning.

 

Whilst he may have a waste exemption that applies to him, it won't apply to brought in waste.

 

Woodchip rotting in a field isn't really a problem as you can argue that is beneficial, burning however isn't and burning in a boiler might be a whole deeper quagmire.

 

The EA rules are pretty clear, from memory it's D7.

 

No excuse for illegally burning waste

ENVIRONMENTAGENCY.BLOG.GOV.UK

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News and updates from the Environment Agency

 

 

Edited September 19 by GarethM

[scbk]

Someone will tell me I'm wrong, but I always thought you could only burn material on the site it originated from?

 

I once had someone send the police out to a bonfire I was having on a site, it was a great fire, red hot so very little smoke, and safe as houses too.

[GarethM]

That's correct, as a farmer I have about all the exceptions minus a few for sheep dip so know the rules.

 

I have a if it's chipped or in timber form rule on site, if a tree guy wanted to pay for green waste shredding than that's a different matter as that's allowed under the EA rules.

[Steven P]

So... a matter of scale I know... but I wonder how The Scouts and so on manage at their camp sites with cooking and camp fires? Assuming they are not desolate wastelands with every tree burnt up by now, and most of the wood is brought to site... Likewise bonfire nights at community bonfires, I'd assume the scale is similar to what you burn. Remembering from my younger days we used to burn logs and things brought to site specifically to cook on. Or is the difference commercial and not commercial.

 

2nd question because I don't know if the farmer brought waste from several fields to that one burning spot, is that still considered to be 'on site'?

 

Perhaps to keep her sweeter you might need to burn smaller fires more frequently?

[GarethM]

Commercial probably also has an impact, as what happens when you take your waste to the top ?.

 

It's technically classed as a holding, so whatever land you rent/own or borrow generally gets lumped together.

[openspaceman]

1 hour ago, GarethM said:

Technically it's illegal, as it's not the farmer own stuff he's burning.

 

Whilst he may have a waste exemption that applies to him, it won't apply to brought in waste.

 

Woodchip rotting in a field isn't really a problem as you can argue that is beneficial, burning however isn't and burning in a boiler might be a whole deeper quagmire.

 

The EA rules are pretty clear, from memory it's D7.

 

No excuse for illegally burning waste

ENVIRONMENTAGENCY.BLOG.GOV.UK

---

News and updates from the Environment Agency

 

 

Yes, my understanding too, even the bit about composting/rotting as beneficial, same with wood chippings for a footpath/runningtrack/gallop

[dan blocker]

It has to be a registered wast site even to tip it. Burning is a no no. Only the farmer can burn his own wood on his own farm, or a contractor acting on his behalf. They can move it from one part of his farm to another to burn. The environmental health rep you spoke to doesn’t know what they’re on about! 
Generally if someone phones 999 and reports a fire even if you’ve warned them they will normally “turn out”! 
in the case your describing the farmer and you could be prosecuted. 
Even if it’s your own land and you take it from site, tip and burn you could be prosecuted.

i know someone who trimmed a hedge for an old fella as a favour(foc) someone else transported he hedge cuttings to a friendly farmer to be tipped and eventually burnt and it originated next to the council offices😳, jobsworth was watching from his office, followed the carrier to the farmers and eventually they were both prosecuted. You’ve all ready got a local looking out for the burning and your asking for trouble.

[Mesterh]

2 hours ago, Les Day said:

hey said no problem so long we continue to be considerate but really my question is...at what point does our waste to be burnt become industrial waste? Its mostly the result of domestic work & I assume once loaded onto our vans, it becomes our property? Am I wrong do you think?

Shirley its industrial waste, you were paid to dispose of it.