Camden Council are seeking to revoke their current Smoke Control Order and replace it with one that will, for the fist time, include canal boats.
Parts of Camden were first designated as Smoke Control Areas in the 1950s, these being expanded to cover the entire borough in 2000.
Inland waterways however, fell outside the scope of the orders until 2021, when the Environment Act was amended to include them.
The busy Regent’s Canal cuts through the heart of Camden and while the council conceded that canal boats are responsible for only a small part of the borough’s overall emissions, unregulated burning practices present a health risk for both the boating community and those who live and working around the canal.
The proposed new orders state: ‘if smoke is emitted from a chimney of any building or vessel moored within the administrative area of the Council, the occupier of that building, or moored vessel, is liable to a civil financial penalty of between £175 and £300.’
The council advise: ‘If you moor a vessel on the waterways in Camden, you may need to change the way you heat your vessel if you are using unauthorised fuel and a non-exempt appliance. The changes do not affect the fuel used for powering the boat’s movement. You may qualify for funding to make this change.’
The council have set 20th March, as the deadline for objections by anyone who might be affected by the Order.
Councillor Adam Harrison, Cabinet member for planning and a sustainable Camden said: ‘Our ambitious Clean Air Action Plan 2023-2026 and the longer-term Camden Clean Air Strategy 2019-2034 sets out to reduce emissions from buildings, including from wood burning and commercial cooking. Reducing the emission of smoke from chimneys in Camden is central to this work.
‘In a smoke control area, you are only allowed to burn certain authorised fuels unless using an appliance exempted by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and it is an offence to emit smoke from a chimney.
‘Almost nowhere in London requires wood burning or open fires for home heating, and in Camden all homes can be connected to mains electricity, the gas network, or both.
‘We want no one in the borough to experience poor health because of the air they breathe. We were the first local authority to adopt the World Health Organization air quality guidelines and have set an ambitious target of achieving these limits borough-wide no later than 2034.
‘The development of modern wood burning stoves, and the marketing of wood burning as an ‘eco-friendly’ heating source are leading to an increase in the popularity of solid fuel heating.
‘All forms of solid fuel heating, including the use of modern appliances, produces air pollution that can damage our health. The increase in air pollution from wood burning represents a growing risk to public health, and despite this source of air pollution deriving from a small proportion of households, its health impact is distributed across Camden and London.
‘We would like to ask residents, businesses, and anyone with an interest in Camden to view our proposal, with an opportunity to raise any objections to the proposal by Thursday 20 March.’
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