Hammersmith Smoke Control Order consultation, ends 7th February 2024

London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham is preparing to enact a Smoke Control Order that will include moored boats for the first time. Boaters on the Grand Union Canal and the River Thames will be affected.

The Environment Act 2021 extended smoke control areas to moored boats and gave local authorities the power to impose a financial penalty where they witness the emission of a “significant quantity of smoke from a chimney”, regardless of the appliance being used or the type of fuel burned.

You may wish to comment that a solid fuel stove is your only form of heating and cooking in your home; that this will make heating your boat unaffordable; or ask how boaters will know when they are entering the proposed smoke control area; or whether you can use your existing stove and use kindling to light the fire (you should be able to do both); or how the Council proposes to define and what instruments it will use to measure a “significant quantity of smoke from a chimney”; or what you should do if you cannot afford to pay a fine; or what you should do if you already use smokeless fuel but the Council considers you to be in breach of the order, given that you cannot afford the £800.00 -plus for a new stove; or ask whether the Council plans to follow DEFRA guidance on this issue.

The Smoke Control Order could fine people up to £300 for producing “a significant quantity of smoke” from a chimney and/or burning wood in a non-DEFRA approved stove. Don’t let the council fine you for heating your home! The consultation ends on 7th February. Follow the instructions on the Council’s web page below to register your opposition to the application of the Smoke Control Order to moored boats. Email airquality@lbhf.gov.uk and see

https://www.lbhf.gov.uk/environment/air-quality/smoke-control-order-2024-consultation