Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
You have the evidence Haringey Council - now will you enforce? Restaurant pollution Green Lanes
For years residents have been told that the council have no ability to sanction the grill restaurants on Green Lanes for the pollution they pump into our homes, and unfortunately our lungs and those of our children.
So here you go, clear evidence of 'dark smoke' coming out of the chimney of one of our grill restaurants near Pemberton and Mattison Road. Unfortunately blowing towards Kimberley Gardens who must be coughing this evening.
The law is clear - Clean Air Act 1993 'Dark smoke shall not be emitted from a chimney of any building, and if, on any day, dark smoke is so emitted, the occupier of the building shall be guilty of an offence.'
It is an offence. And it is not the first time the council have received such a photo.
So, the actions are clear. Monday morning, send them a notice of prosecution. Require them to clean up their business. Install proper filters. And issue a fine.
The law exists. Prosecute. Enforce. Protect residents.
People, not profits. We need to breathe.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Alice B
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Hi Richard - a little confused by your response. The scientific evidence about smoke / pollutants and the link to a range of life limiting conditions is VERY clear
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton
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Apologies for my ignorance. But I still don't follow how a Council is to establish the specific linkage between pollutants in one of a possible number of near-located specific restaurants.which -- as I recall --have been inspected and tested.
Have I misunderstood or misremembered this?
Would it be possible to seek assistance from one or more University Departments whose independent expertise and public reputation may be helpful in adding to / strengthening the existing evidence?
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Permalink Reply by Richard Albert Watson
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Hi Alice. I am not denying the scientific evidence of smoke inhalation but pointing out that other hidden factors come into the equation and are a contributing factor to peoples general ill health.
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter
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Richard, is "other hidden factors" not clouding this issue?
I'm sure there are many hazardous elements in the air we breathe, but should this be a reason not to address any one and particularly the most poisonous?
Haringey is a designated smoke control area
This means only smokeless fuel can be used — gas, electricity, low-volatile steam coals, coke, or patent smokeless fuels such as Phurnacite, Coalite, or Coalite.
Ordinary charcoal isn't on that list, so as with other London boroughs, a restaurant grill venting through a chimney/flue needs to be burning a Defra-authorised fuel specifically approved for smoke control areas, not standard charcoal.
In terms of chimney height and filtration/extraction standards, our council ought to be modelling the approach in Boroughs like Islington and Westminster.
Hackney Council, for example, states plainly that it's an offence to use charcoal grills inside restaurants without using approved solid fuels, and operators need to check Defra's list of authorised charcoal brands.
But our council has not always learnt from other Boroughs, or from best practice.
Ongoing smoke that affects neighbours can still be pursued separately as a statutory nuisance under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, regardless of fuel compliance.
Our council seems in the past to have seen this as too hard and preferred to spend money in other, easy directions, like the year-of-culture and the year-of-culture legacy fund, rumoured to be huge.
In effect, the previous Administration viewed "culture" as a higher priority than Public Health and with a background of chronic cosiness with local businesses.
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Hi Clive. I am not suggesting 'the 'other hidden factors' should be used to cloud the issue under discussion. Where visible evidence of pollution is noticed it should be dealt with under the appropriate legislation. In a few weeks time the celebration of Guy Fawkes Day will be pumping more pollutants into the atmosphere for peoples enjoyment.
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