Outside burner rules

Faith177

Hi 

looking for some advice woke up this morning to my neighbour building a chimney right next to my fence it looks like it will be for a log fire or some outdoor cooking thing but I can’t get confirmation at the moment 

Are there any rules about height and placement of these things? It’s about 8-9ft tall and as I said right next to my wooden fence 

FreeBear

Pretty sure there will be regulations specifying a minimum distance from buildings, fences, and hedges. Can't lay my fingers on it right now. But an structure over 2.4m (?) next to a boundary requires building control approval - Depending on the relationship with your neighbour, contact Building Control and see what they have to say.

If BC get involved, it will probably upset neighbour if he hasn't followed the correct procedure.

Faith177

FreeBear said:

Pretty sure there will be regulations specifying a minimum distance from buildings, fences, and hedges. Can't lay my fingers on it right now. But an structure over 2.4m (?) next to a boundary requires building control approval - Depending on the relationship with your neighbour, contact Building Control and see what they have to say.

If BC get involved, it will probably upset neighbour if he hasn't followed the correct procedure.

Thank you I’m going to have a chat with him if I can catch him and see what he says x 

grumbler

Whatever it is with a high chimney can't be worse than an ordinary BBQ or a chiminea - that can be placed in any place in a garden.

It's not that I'd like it placed under my window.

tacpot12

I would suggest that you leave it until you know the chimney is causing a problem. You won't get them to stop building it as they will have purchased all the materials, and if it doesn't cause you a problem, then there is no issue. Most outdoor cooking facilities in the UK get used no more than three times a year, and this assumes the owner is a real foodie. The use of tsuch facilities rapidly falls off after the first year, so be careful about annoying your neighbour with a complaint that is going self-resolve over the next couple of years...

Jeepers_Creepers

How close is this location to a 'sensitive' part of your garden, where you sit, hang out, use?

I think we all need to reasonably cope with having the odd barbie smoke coming over a fence a few times a year. But if this purpose-made 'oven' is located up near your house, say, or adjacent to a patio area where they know you sit and use, then I think it's definitely worth having a quiet word at this stage - ie, asap. Express interest in what it is, but get into the chat if he knows how much smoke it could produce, or if he's aware that it's right by your patio - whatever is the case.

If it is used very regularly, and if it does produce a lot of smoke and/or smell which is a genuine nuisance, then you can pursue this via Env Health (I think) at your council. What you don't really want, I think, is for the first thing your neighb says is "Why didn't you say anything at the time - you knew I was building it...?" That wouldn't be a fair thing for them to say, but inconsiderate folk do consider it a reasonable excuse to get away with things.

If you can report that you did express concerns and asked about how intrusive it could be, and the fellow went ahead and built it anyway, then you could consider it as him 'having been put on notice' of the consequences in advance, so this should weaken any argument they subsequently have. Also, if you are fobbed off with a "Oh, it might look impressive, but I doubt we'll use it more than a few times a year" and they subsequently have it burning away twice each weekend, you want to know. Which is why, in any approach you make, have your phone in your pocket set to record. That ain't sneaky, it's practical.

In any potential dispute, start doing this.

Davesnave

'Chimney' is vague. It could be a narrow steel pipe or a full-blown brick structure as in pizza oven. The latter would probably need planning if it was within 2m and over 2.5m tall, but there again, the taller the thing is, the further from you the smoke/smell goes.

As usual, best to have a chat now and express any concerns you have if it's adjacent to your high-use areas of garden.

If it comes down to negotiation, a barrel of comfrey water, stirred vigorously, trumps a barbecue and puts everyone off their food, guaranteed!

unforeseen

If it comes down to negotiation, a barrel of comfrey water, stirred vigorously, trumps a barbecue and puts everyone off their food, guaranteed!

Looks like an own goal as well. 

Davesnave

unforeseen said:

If it comes down to negotiation, a barrel of comfrey water, stirred vigorously, trumps a barbecue and puts everyone off their food, guaranteed!

Looks like an own goal as well. 

Depends on your sense of humour and your sense of proportion too. The nuclear option should only only be used in extremis, but I thought that too obvious to mention

Faith177

To answer some questions it is a brick and cement built structure it’s right behind our bench where we sit in the garden. Still waiting on seeing neighbour to see what it is 

Jeepers_Creepers

Faith177 said:

To answer some questions it is a brick and cement built structure it’s right behind our bench where we sit in the garden. Still waiting on seeing neighbour to see what it is 

Does the neighb know your bench is there? If so, that speaks volumes.

How long is the border between you - do they have other places to position this?

If, after you have your chat, things are looking bad, then I'd contact Env Health for advice on what to do right away.