15 replies to this topic

[Cornish Gems]

Because of relatively new legislation regarding bonfires, we would suggest that everyone obtains relevant exemption certificates before lighting one on your land. The last thing you want is for a neighbour to make a complaint and then the EA to discover that you do NOT have the proper licence.

environment agency - disposal of waste

[Groundhog]

Commonly used one is D7 burning in the open,its a nightmare trying to register online it takes loads of info then crashes !

[surreydodger]

Is it not easier and less time consuming just to shoot the neighbour ?

[treebloke]

Is it not easier and less time consuming just to shoot the neighbour ?

Is there a link to the appropriate form for this activity or is it a bit like shooting a Scotsman in York on a Sunday morning with a longbow.

[barrymoore]

HI All just had enviroment Agency out this morning as I have been reported by the neghbour again. Even though I have a certificate she says I can not burn anything except for hedge cuttings from my land! she said no to chicken litter, no to cardboard, no to paper feed sacks, no to hay. No to every thing except as i say Hedge or Tree!
No this is got to be a load of bull!
does any one know where there is a clear list of what you can and can not burn?

regards Derek

[surreydodger]

Surely it depends on what the local regs say and are? Can't imagine there's a countrywide list of what you can and can't burn.

[Cornish Gems]

Barrymoore, there is a list on the environmental agency website, and you can only burn hedge waste outside using a D7 exemption permits, for the pig waste ie the bedding etc we just compost ours down and the same with the chicken coop shavings. Alternatively you can just plow it into the ground great fertilizer provided there is not tons of it for that you require a permit. However if you invest in an incinerator exemption D6 you can burn the following:

Plant tissue waste (from agriculture, horticulture, aquaculture and fishing) (this would be your straw bedding as it is vegetation)

Untreated wood from forestry only

Waste bark and cork

Untreated sawdust and wood shavings only (shavings from chicken coop)

Waste bark and wood

Untreated wooden packaging only

Untreated wood

Hope this helps some way.

[Groundhog]

EA website lists exemptions,a D7 is the basic exemption all other waste needs to be recycled or landfilled.If you want to hack your neighbour off get a load of woodchip or barkmulch and burn that next to her fence with the correct wind direction,it will smoulder for days,and all covered by your exemption.Think that is a lot more "Grown Up" than shooting someone.

[barrymoore]

Thanks all for your replies, how much do you think to invest in an incinerator and where would you get one?
regards Derek

[Romany]

I've just read the regulations, and contrary to what is said in some of the posts above, hay and straw can be burnt alongsides wood. see:
"D7 - Burning waste in the open

Find out what is included under exemption D7 - Burning waste in the open.
Summary of exemption

This web page contains a brief summary of the exemption so you can see if it is applicable to you. There is a link to the full guidance document at the bottom of this page.
What exemption does this replace?

Paragraph 30.
What is the purpose of this exemption?

To allow waste wood and vegetation to be disposed of by burning it on a bonfire at the place where it was cut down.
What types of farming activities can I do?

You can:

• burn hedge trimmings or mouldy straw and hay on a bonfire;
• burn the vegetation and wood produced when orchards are grubbed up.

A list of the waste types related to farming which you can burn under this exemption are listed under the 'What wastes can I dispose of under this exemption?' section of the full guidance document. There is a link to this at the bottom of this page."

(taken from http://www.environme...ors/117127.aspx)

It seems like a crazy regulation to me, a bit like (but thankfully not [yet] as extreme as) the apparent ban on growing your own veg in the US!

Romany

[surreydodger]

I have to ask, but do the people who make up these rules firstly, thank me and you for paying their weekly wages and secondly, are they required to mantain a current permit to be kept alive?

[helend]

Just to add my two penneth, and to 'second' CG's comments.

Given the amount of land we all have/want it is a good idea to set aside a small area to compost as much waste as you can, rather than burn it. If you can re-use it on site compost keeps the fertility needed by your land to sustain you and your animals within your 'eco-system' for want of a better term. It keeps it cycling round benefitting you, instead of being lost - it was taught in schools, the carbon cycle, and it is linked to all the buzz word carbon footprint stuff we hear now, but don't let that put you off!

I don't know how practical storing and spreading 'muck' is and on what scale, but before farmers used to do that, animals were traditionally kept along side crops in rotation to maintain fertility naturally completing the cycle. My ideal way to manage land would be to move animals around enough that I can leave their fertilizer to do it's work feeding the pasture for the next rotation with minimal intervention by me. Feet up, kettle on, I wish


But if you have to collect up manure from stalls and stables and the like, store it til it's composted a bit, even if you do nothing to it, within a year it will be sufficiently composted to handle again. Follow the guidelines for a garden compost bin, mix dry stuff like card board and woody materials in even proportion with wet stuff like pig poo. And chuck in the chicken bedding. Poultry manure is a great activator to the composting process, as is your pee, and nettles, and you must have seen pelleted poultry manure in garden centres, so you know it's good stuff.

I daresay there are some anal rules and regs making it difficult or impossible to re-use natures most valuable commodities like this, but on our small scale it should be manageable and would not offend anyone.


It's common sense to not put things like water courses in jeopardy, esp if you have your own drinking supply Unlike a place I saw with 10 stables-worth of muck heap trickling some sort of concentrated liquid into the wee stream feeding the ponds - it was killing the pond life, what idiots!

Speaking with my horticultural hat on, I would only recommend burning thorny or diseased material that presents a hazard if it were left on your farm, like finding prickles in the potting compost, perhaps the mouldy straw mentioned, or trees if they were sick.

Otherwise, waste nothing!

I shred tree/hedge prunings, it makes great pathways, it's good for muddy areas on chicken runs and even on the floors of their sheds, and they absolutely LOVE it, just put a barrow load down and watch them scratch it all out for you.

If you don't need the end product on your land put it on Freecycle and let someone else come and collect it off you by the trailer load. If you have an outlet already selling plants and the like, sell it there in old feed bags. Or grow worms in it and sell them if you believe the figures in the book.

But please don't waste it - Green rant over

[KChally]

Just stick it in a spreader and put it back on your land. Pig poo is great.

KChally

[cimalt]

As well as making sure you have your EA exemption (covered above) in place, do make sure you contact the Fire Service's 'Fire Control' for your area and inform them you are having a 'controlled burn' and give them the address with postcode, contact name and number on site and time of start and stop. If you do this and then some b**ger calls the fire brigade out on you, you won't have incurred any false call out costs. If you haven't notified Fire Control you could end up with a big call out bill!

[Chris1]

I did exactly this when I had loads of tree brash to burn in N.wales a couple of years back on a mates' place. Gave them a finish time of approx 4pm.

At 5pm+ they phoned me to say they had fire reported from a distance, and was it me still burning.

Upon telling them it was almost over, I heard no more, but I suppose it was a lot easier and less costly than a fire tender turnout several miles from station.

[cimalt]

I did exactly this when I had loads of tree brash to burn in N.wales a couple of years back on a mates' place. Gave them a finish time of approx 4pm.

At 5pm+ they phoned me to say they had fire reported from a distance, and was it me still burning.

Upon telling them it was almost over, I heard no more, but I suppose it was a lot easier and less costly than a fire tender turnout several miles from station.

Saved yourself a false callout bill their Chris1. Worth the call!