Wood burning stove complaints discussed at Perth and Kinross Council meeting

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Environmental concerns have been raised over the sub-standard use of wood burning stoves.Due to rising energy prices, local residents have reportedly been lighting fires and using stoves as a cheaper alternative to heat their homes.But poorly fitted stoves or burning damp wood can have a negative impact on air quality.As a local authority, Perth and Kinross Council has a duty to monitor the air quality in the area.

An environmental health technician provided an update on the area's air quality to a meeting of PKC's Climate Change and Sustainability Committee on Wednesday, February 15.The committee was told the council's Environmental Health team often received complaints about wood burning stoves.Environmental Health technician (Air Quality) Oliver Law said: "With energy prices rising, many have chosen to install stoves within their homes as a cheaper energy alternative.

But poor installation, maintenance and operation of stoves can lead to high levels of particulates being emitted - even from more modern stoves.

Add to this the use of poor quality or damp fuel in a stove can be a real public health problem both to the neighbours and to the stove users themselves."Environmental Health often receive complaints about neighbouring fires and stoves but unfortunately we don't have many powers to deal with this."It's a national issue that the Scottish Government is aware of and they're working to update legislation for smoke control areas which will hopefully give us more power over what's being burnt in Perth and Kinross."Until then, our best route of action is addressing the issues a stove may cause before it's installed through the planning process."Planning permission is required for any flue which is installed within an