How much are they, it may work out cheaper.
Still don't agree to anything until it is proven to work though.

BTW What number should we use now that 2000 is no longer waaaay off in the future?

This is another option.

http://www.oekotube.ch/joomla/oekosolve/index.php/en/micro-dust-filters/oekotube-electrofiltre/how-it-works

video of installation looks an ideal solution.

http://www.oekotube.ch/joomla/oekosolve/index.php/en/videosbilder-176/referenzanlagen-oekotube

Morning GreenLady, welcome to the thread and thank you for your kind words of support. Sorry to hear you are suffering the same problem, as you are finding, it is a very difficult problem to solve. I don't think you will find a more in depth discussion about smoke nuisance in the UK anywhere else on the tinternet. It sounds like you have digested most of it if you have been following the thread for 4 years. The problem if you take action yourself is the cost. I would have had a potential £60k bill if I had not been insured and I had lost my case in court. Fortunately I have been covered for my costs with my house insurance and it hasn't cost a me a penny. However, as you probably have gathered from the last few threads I haven't had the best representation from the solicitors working on behalf of my insurers. You can do a section 82 yourself but you still would be liable for your neighbours costs if you lose. My neighbours solicitors were talking in the region of £30k for their costs so it would still have been a big gamble and there's quite a lot of court jargon to make yourself familiar with too. Feel free to ask if you need some advice, I've tried pretty much all avenues to get my smoke nuisance sorted. The GBF members have been phenomenal with their help and advice.

Mikeee5

Most likely sodium nitrate from within the masonry, when it gets damp it will be transported out as the masonry warms and get left behind as crystals as the water transporting it evaporates.

around 10 weeks or so for a small scale proposal like this. I think the LA can spend up to two weeks validating the application then have 8 weeks to decide it. They can go over this time, and often do for big proposals, but for this small application it should trot through as a delegated decision (decided by a planning officer, not committee) unless there are major complications such as conservation or major objections raised. It may be refused, then the applicant has to appeal. I think they have 6 months to lodge an appeal and then depending on the type either 8 weeks or 14 weeks to get a decision. I think for smaller household applciation the appeal timeframe may be shorter.

basically, with luck and planning consent granted first time, 2 - 3 months. With a refusal and appeal, 6 - 12 months, maybe more.

I've not Mark, I just hope my solicitor hasn't taken it on his own back to finalise the agreement. As far as I am aware it has been stayed until planning permission is granted.

Good points Mark. We've looked on the planning applications online and its not been entered as yet.

Now there is an admitted problem that needs a solution and a proposal for a solution that needs planning permission it should be possible to get an order to prevent the neighbours stove from being used until that proposed solution is put in place. Whilst the heating season is (almost) over it would still be worth getting the order because if the PP goes to committee or appeal then you could find yourself into the next heating season no better off than you have been since 2012 !!

I suspect that you will have to batter your solicitor about the ears to get him to progress the order but he should do it as he is supposed to be looking after your interests.

I have instructed my solicitor to ask them not to use the stove until the remedial work has been carried out. They are back to making thick black smoke at the moment, luckily it has been tracking away from our property. I don't think chucking a 1.5 m tube on top of the stack is going to make much difference if they carry on making lots of smoke like this. Part of the agreement is for them to use dry logs, cut to a specified size, Perhaps they are doing this now. Still going to be difficult to bring to an end !

+1

It looks like we've come full circle with the thread "is wood wood". The smelly tubbies were fetching wood from a bunker they have at the side of their garage the other day, it looked like scrap wood 4 x 2 etc. They have a wood store at the back of their garage and this is the wood that was presented to the experts during their joint meeting. The Tomlin order has not been signed yet, perhaps they are planning on getting rid of their crap before they sign the document. Perhaps there should be something in the Tomlin Order about keeping the smoke to an absolute minimum or to what would be expected for a DEFRA exempt stove. It's up to them how they would achieve that. They have proved they can operate without creating much smoke during the meetings of the experts. If they have to chuck the wood in the microwave for half an hour before they stick it on the fire so be it. The experts have come up with a solution for the "defective" chimley, but it's only going to be successful if they operate the stove without creating too much smoke. I think I'll give out expert witness a call to see what he thinks.

I agree with gotanewlife - you are better off when the chimney is producing thick black smoke, its easy to see and its not only the thick black bits that do (all of) the damage but the sub 2.5 bits that you can't see and that the body mechanisms can't filter out

Without the thick smoke being visible you would have a very hard job convincing anyone there was a chimney problem so from that point of view your neighbour has scored an own goal by burning wood that produces visible smoke. Don't try to force your neighbour to burn wood that produces no visible smoke, its much easier to see the products of combustion being carried away (by use of an effective chimney) when you can see the smoke !!

I'm not sure that talking to your expert again would achieve much. He has seen the problem and reported on it, further inspections won't add much to the situation until the neighbour is told to stop by a higher authority e.g. the court. So IMO get your solicitor to write the letter telling him to stop using the stove until the chimney is extended otherwise court action will ensue.

I am so glad I have found this forum, I was starting to give up hope.

We are in the same situation with a neighbour's smoke. Their smoke never seems to go away, most of the time it comes horizontal out of the chimney then drops straight to the ground. If the wind is in our direction it comes straight over to us hits our house and then sits in our garden comes into our kitchen and conservatory, we can't even sit out on the patio at times because the smoke is so strong it burns the back of your throat.

There is a height difference in houses, our house is 4 storey and on a slightly higher level to the neighbour, their chimney is about the height of our downstairs windows, so our house is a huge barrier for the smoke to hit, there are also alot or large 15+ metre high trees around, the pressure seems to be downwards that the smoke never leaves the area.

We have a neighbour who has the attitude of 'I'll do what I want and I don't care if affects you'. Unfortunately there are no other properties around it is just us against him.

The problem has been going on for 2 years so far, the first year we did not say anything and hoped that he would look into the problem as he said that he was having draw issues with his chimneys. The second year reported it to env health, who took nearly 6 months to send a diary, eventually they wrote him a letter to inform him of the complaint and asked him if he was burning the correct fuel. The neighbour changed the cowl on the chimney which has made no difference at all. Just complained to Env health again as the smell has become really acrid, even standing in our garden for a few mins gave a burning sensation at the back of your throat. Env Health don't seem to want to know, he said unless he can see the smoke particles coming in our house through the windows he can not put it down as a complaint, does not matter that we can not sit in our conservatory, patio area or kitchen with the acrid smell of the smoke. The other problem we have is that every time we phone him to say it is happening, he can't make it out or turns up 4 hours later when it has died down.

The neighbours have a woodburning cooker that is connected to a thermal store so we don't even get a break in the summer as it is going all the time, sometimes from 8am to 10pm. What makes it worse is that the summer is coming up and you want to open your windows but you know your house is going to get full of smoke.

I'm still reading through the whole of the thread, but we can't live like this and we could never sell the house with this problem so we're digging our heels in and going to fight to get it sorted out, I know it is going to be a long hard slog.

Thanks have started a new thread, wasn't sure how or where to post initially.

Have put it under - Smoke nuisance from neighbours chimney in heating and cooling category.

Have read this thread and this has given me some great information to get started.