[StevetFoxhunters]

When there is so much emphasis on protecting the environment I ask the question should allotment fires be banned nationwide. Why do gardeners need to burn “things” and pollute our atmosphere? I understand that some waste may carry disease including weeds to be disposed of carefully to prevent spread but I would argue these are small in number and can be bagged up and put in your waste bin.
     It seems every day someone has a fire on one of the allotment sites in our area. What are these people burning!

[mumofstig]

I can understand, I suppose,  your frustration, and wanting not to have bonfire smoke blowing everywhere when it is nice in the evening for sitting outside.

some waste may carry disease including weeds to be disposed of carefully to prevent spread but I would argue these are small in number and can be bagged up and put in your waste bin.

However, I think that many gardeners that have taken on a badly overgrown allotment would disagree with you on that.
Here we aren't allowed to bag up garden waste and put it in the normal wheelie bin. We have to pay for a separate garden waste bin or get an appointment to take rubbish to the local tip, which limits how many times you can go (very short-sighted IMO) plus -  not everybody has a car. I haven't..

[StevetFoxhunters]

In addition I hope gardeners will think about composting most weeds, no need for burning.

[Christine]

A contentious subject I think. If you have no car it's not exactly easy to take rubbish to the tip. Not all rubbish composts (talk to me about raspberry canes after pruning and the ivy in my old allotment hedges). One of our committee members said at the meeting last night that the local tip (household waste recycling centre then) asked him many questions as he took loads of non compostable hedge cuttings into the tip (too much waste they said). He's on a site with close local houses so burning is really not a good thing.

[Plot 1 Problems]

Terrific idea, lets bury more plastic bags full of waste in the ground!

[JayG]

Although green bins (for green waste) are now chargeable here in Sheffield, there's no 'bin police' checking whether you have put green waste in your black (general waste) bin, which possibly accounts for garden bonfires being pretty rare, in my area at least.

Nearly all general waste is burned in the municipal incinerator, which produces heat for district heating systems and enough electricity to power 22,000 homes.

Perhaps best not to speculate whether the actual green waste collected finishes up being burned rather than (officially) being composted - in the past at least waste has had to be brought in by road from other councils to keep the hungry beast fed... 

[jezza]

Hello what's wrong with chipping such as raspberries,as for the ivy in an old hedge Christine check that you are allowed to remove it,in my local authority area ivy has to be left for nesting birds and insects,pernicious weeds,couch,grass mares tale Japanese Knotweed are supposed to be destroyed on site as are any diseased plant material eg, blighted tomatoes blighted potatoes raspberries with  violet big bud should be burnt on a hot fire with out making smoke,we had to burn 250 tomatoe plants one year under a 1962 notifiable disease act ,it was very hot they burst in minutes    jezza

[Christine]

Jezza the ivy is cut when the hedges are cut - it's not being pulled out as there would be no hedge else. My hedge cuttings are a mixture of hawthorn, ivy, privet, blackthorn. It's just that the ivy really doesn't compost. Nor raspberry canes. Don't have enough of either to invest  in chipping machinery and frankly nowhere to use the results.

[jaydig]

I try to burn as little as possible, but there are some things such as diseased plant material and pernicious weeds that need to be disposed of in this way.  I compost annual weeds, throw nettles etc into the water butts to make liquid compost and use the comfrey as a liquid feed.  If someone has ever had to garden in an area infested with really "nasty" weeds, then they would also agree with burning them.  Our council, in its wisdom, has decreed that plotholders may only have fires during the winter when everything is soaking wet and creates ten times more smoke than if it was burnt during the summer.  Local householders, however, are allowed to burn what and when they please. Hard to understand, isn't it?

[Yorkie]

Irrespective of whether allotment fires are in theory allowed by the tenancy, they must still not cause a statutory nuisance.  In other words, if they are smoky or smelly then they may be a nuisance - in which case a complaint to the local environmental health department would succeed!