Please bring in Legislation to ban Wood Burning Stoves in Argyll&Bute and Rural built up areas. Glasgow cleaned up its air beautifully but Rural areas have been left behind regarding Legislation. A recent fad has been to install Wood Burning Stoves and for those who enjoy clean air for health reasons, many are now confined to their homes because the air outside is so filthy that it catches their breath. A local Lawyer has highlighted that it could be claimed that their Human Right to fresh air has been taken away from them and financial claims will eventually be made against the Scottish Government and Local Authorities. The danger to health needs to be investigated. No matter what the marketing geniuses say about the latest Wood Burning Stoves, there is no such thing as ‘Healthy Smoke’ and the elderly, young and babies are at great risk. The local Environmental Health Department, Planning and Building Department have no powers to stop the installation of chimneys that are too close to the roof and are spilling out smoke at ground level and are a danger to everyone’s health. Wood Burning Stove owners often keep the stoves burning all night to save cleaning it in the morning, so the smoke and dangerous particles permeates our homes while we sleep. They also don’t always keep to the rules of what they burn. I’ve witnessed my neighbours arriving home with a full sized tree with damp moss on it and using it without being seasoned. My next door neighbour chopped up varnished MDF boards and burned them and I know that young Mums are burning plastic nappies. They are all carcinogenic dangers to health and we need legislation to protect us. At present I have 9 Wood Burning Stoves surrounding my home. My husband who had long term respiratory problems had his life span shortened after two Wood Burning Stoves were installed by close neighbours. Nowadays with 9 Wood Burning Stoves in close proximity to my home, my area looks like Smokey old Glasgow. I can’t walk outside during the winter because the smoke is as bad or worse than Glasgow was during the 1950s. Such a pity since we have the most beautiful cool clean air in Scotland that is the envy of the rest of the UK and elsewhere. Let’s not allow the Marketing gurus to destroy it. We need Legislation now.
This content is created by the open source Your Priorities citizen engagement platform designed by the non profit Citizens Foundation