Tue, 23 Jun 2026 04:54:44 +0100 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/ Lussumo Vanilla 1.0.3 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=69586#Comment_69586 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=69586#Comment_69586 Sat, 19 Dec 2009 23:24:09 +0000 saxony https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=69906#Comment_69906 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=69906#Comment_69906 Tue, 22 Dec 2009 18:10:36 +0000 saxony https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=69909#Comment_69909 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=69909#Comment_69909 Tue, 22 Dec 2009 18:21:47 +0000 Julian Your MP is almost always duty bound to represent you - if you have absolutely drawn a blank with local authority Environmental Health and Environment Agency your MP can bang heads together and has the potential to make these agencies take action. The legislation is quoted elsewhere in this thread. I think this is an extremely serious matter but my local EH officials have been very helpful on the less serious matter I raised with them, involving police and other agencies. I cannot understand why they won't take more action. In the case of the local authority, letters to your district and county councillors often help - have you tried them? Or indeed the chief executive of the authority. Good luck in getting this solved.]]> https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=69913#Comment_69913 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=69913#Comment_69913 Tue, 22 Dec 2009 18:39:16 +0000 ludite https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=69994#Comment_69994 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=69994#Comment_69994 Wed, 23 Dec 2009 11:57:08 +0000 simeon
Perhaps the best course for action is for you to write directly to the ministers in charge. If you do so, don't make political statements or carping comments. Just ask questions. Pointed questions. Try these two:

The Rt Hon John Denham MP
Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
Communities and Local Government
Eland House
Bressenden Place
LONDON
SW1E 5DU


and

The Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Defra
Nobel House
17 Smith Square
London SW1P 3JR

Write something along the lines of:

I have been pursuing an issue creosote soaked wood being used as a fuel for a fire in a neighbouring property which has been causing me a considerable amount of concern. I understand that present legislation only permits for wood, the use of untreated timber and green waste as a domestic fire fuel.

Could you please advise me about the practical procedures in place by which this regulation may be enforced.

So far, I have contacted my MP, local council etc etc etc etc etc but to no avail.

I look forward to your response.]]> https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=70010#Comment_70010 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=70010#Comment_70010 Wed, 23 Dec 2009 14:03:50 +0000 saxony
Merry Christmas All and thanks for all the comments.]]> https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72462#Comment_72462 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72462#Comment_72462 Fri, 22 Jan 2010 16:49:06 +0000 saxony
We've just been told that if someone buys a telegraph pole, as opposed to getting it from a skip etc, and burns it on their wood burner the Environment Agency does not see that as a problem. If the smoke bothers anyone then it's a matter for the local authority.

When asked who was responsible if someone was known to be burning toxic materials that didn't produce a distinct smell, the answer is apparently no-one.]]> https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72476#Comment_72476 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72476#Comment_72476 Fri, 22 Jan 2010 19:24:37 +0000 simeon
What is the source of this information? There is a legal grey area where if you buy something like a manufactured timber product not for use as a fuel then you want to dispose of it, it may be possible to burn small amounts in your own home. Otherwise, anything like a telegraph pole being used for fuel is illegal.

It could be someone is trying perversely to pull the wool over your eyes. It is quite possibly legal (although I am not sure) for a single tree trunk to be shaved of its bark and sawn at both ends intended as a telegraph pole but which fails to be used as such, then to be sold on as wood fuel because it is green waste. However, once that pole has been used and/or treated with anything, it is illegal for it to be sold for fuel use or even used as a fuel.

(Unless it is incinerated in a WID compliant facility)]]> https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72477#Comment_72477 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72477#Comment_72477 Fri, 22 Jan 2010 19:26:32 +0000 saxony https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72574#Comment_72574 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72574#Comment_72574 Sun, 24 Jan 2010 09:48:08 +0000 simeon https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72597#Comment_72597 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72597#Comment_72597 Sun, 24 Jan 2010 13:46:48 +0000 headgear
As for your neighbour, have you considered a direct injunction and simultaneously sue the council for your costs as they are failing in a clear duty. A letter to the CEO of the authority setting out this intended course of action would certainly get their attention!]]> https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72631#Comment_72631 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72631#Comment_72631 Sun, 24 Jan 2010 17:31:10 +0000 skier-hughes
"Eco consultant Donnachadh McCarthy, whose new book Easy Eco-auditing is coming out in the new year, uses his wood burner, combined with an ingenious Ecofan, that distributes the warm air around the house, as the sole heat source for his terraced home.

So far Donnachadh not spent a penny on fueling his wood-burning stove.

"I get all my wood between my house and the corner shop. You’ll be amazed how much wood people throw away. I get untreated wood pallets from a local plumbers merchant who used to pay a guy to take them away.

"And a lot of people doing up houses throw away good wood. You can use it all, as long as it’s not painted or treated."

Geoff Hogan from the Biomass Energy Centre approves of using waste wood, but advises caution: "You have to be particularly careful with wood that has been treated for outdoor use, such as fence posts," says Hogan.

"In the past CCA, which contains arsenic was commonly used. And you have to avoid wood treated with halogens, chlorine, fluorine and bromine, or treated with heavy metals.""



From the Energy Saving Trust website
"A good use for waste wood: burning wood can be a convenient means of disposing of waste that might otherwise be sent to a landfill site."



Also, if you can't use waste wood in a fire, why can you use wood pellets which are generally made from waste wood, from liverpool wood pellet
"Pellets are mostly manufactured from waste products from sawmills and other wood processing industries. The materials used, include ground woodchips and sawdust. No chemical additives are needed, the natural lignin of the wood itself serving as a binder."

I can't find anything that says you cannot use waste wood in a wood burning stove.

Anyone got direct links?

I'm going to make a cup of tea and search some more.]]> https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72635#Comment_72635 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72635#Comment_72635 Sun, 24 Jan 2010 17:52:56 +0000 headgear It seems the Chrome in the stainless reacts with the chrome in the treatments and it all gets chewed up in the heat.. No doubt a proper chemist could tell us what goes on.

This apart from the general nastiness of emissions....]]> https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72637#Comment_72637 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72637#Comment_72637 Sun, 24 Jan 2010 17:56:58 +0000 skier-hughes http://www.biomassenergycentre.org.uk/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/PRACTICAL/REF_LIB_PRAC/POLICY%20AND%20LEGISLATION/REGULATIONS%20AND%20DIRECTIVES/EA%20POSITIONV7_1870672.PDF

Non-virgin timber off cuts, shavings, chippings or sawdust from the processing of non-virgin timbers are waste and are subject to waste control; the type of control will vary depending on the intended use, some examples are given below.

- Use as fuel – the material can be burnt. Its burning is normally regulated under WID. However, if it can first be shown that it is not contaminated with halogenated organic compounds or heavy metals (resulting from treatment with wood preservatives or coating), WID does not apply. In such circumstances, the material remains waste until it has been burned as a fuel, and its burning may still be subject to PPC or WMLR. It must be stored and burned in accordance either with a PPC permit or (for very small appliances) under the exemption from waste management licensing contained in Paragraph 5 WMLR.


Paragraph 5 of WMLR 1994
5.—(1) Burning waste as a fuel in an appliance if the appliance has a net rated thermal input of less than 0.4 megawatts or, where the appliance is used together with other appliances, the aggregate net rated thermal input of all the appliances is less than 0.4 megawatts.

(2) The secure storage of waste intended to be submitted to such burning.

(3) In this paragraph, "net rated thermal input" means the rate at which fuel can be burned at the maximum continuous rating of the appliance multiplied by the net calorific value of the fuel and expressed as megawatts thermal.]]> https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72645#Comment_72645 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72645#Comment_72645 Sun, 24 Jan 2010 19:04:49 +0000 simeon https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72647#Comment_72647 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72647#Comment_72647 Sun, 24 Jan 2010 19:36:14 +0000 Johnh Clarification anyone?]]> https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72649#Comment_72649 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72649#Comment_72649 Sun, 24 Jan 2010 19:50:56 +0000 simeon https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72654#Comment_72654 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72654#Comment_72654 Sun, 24 Jan 2010 20:18:53 +0000 skier-hughes
Where is the statement that says they can't?

I think it can be burned.]]> https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72656#Comment_72656 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72656#Comment_72656 Sun, 24 Jan 2010 20:45:35 +0000 saxony
http://www.cannockchasedc.gov.uk/site/scripts/news_article.php?newsID=738

PS - I'm only worried about the burning of stuff that has toxic additives.]]> https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72658#Comment_72658 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72658#Comment_72658 Sun, 24 Jan 2010 20:53:20 +0000 skier-hughes
I think we may all agree on burning stuff with toxic additives, I'm questioning the posts that say any clean wood that has already be used (or not) cannot be burned.

My father in law is a carpenter. He's doing lots of work on our part timber framed building, with lots of oak offcuts. My searching seems to say I can burn these, but others say that it is illegal. The same for others who say they get untreated pallets etc............]]> https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72661#Comment_72661 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72661#Comment_72661 Sun, 24 Jan 2010 21:17:46 +0000 simeon
It is confusing which is why I asked the EA in such detail. We do need clarification. The EA told me that pallets are not to be used for fuel as once discarded, they are waste and because they have been in contact with manufactured stuff, they are not green waste.

Anyway, creosote used in telegraph poles is hazardous and its disposal has to be done in rather a special way.]]> https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72662#Comment_72662 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72662#Comment_72662 Sun, 24 Jan 2010 21:18:37 +0000 joe90
If Simeon is correct about the legislation then the law is an ass ( I have heard that before somewhere!!!).

Can anyone quote chapter and verse on the law so I know if I ( and others) are breaking the law.]]> https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72663#Comment_72663 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72663#Comment_72663 Sun, 24 Jan 2010 21:22:13 +0000 saxony https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72668#Comment_72668 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72668#Comment_72668 Sun, 24 Jan 2010 22:31:13 +0000 skier-hughes https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72894#Comment_72894 https://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4638&Focus=72894#Comment_72894 Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:00:04 +0000 saxony