Bonfires

What can the Council do?

Council Officers investigate every complaint. Details of the complaint are kept confidential unless, in the worst cases, the matter ends up in court and the complainant may have to give evidence.

Firstly, we contact both parties to try to resolve the problem informally. At this stage we ask the complainant to keep a written record of disturbance. There are no bylaws relating to domestic bonfires within the West Wiltshire District. The only action that we can take is under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, if the bonfire causes a "nuisance" (in the legal sense). It can be very difficult to prove a "nuisance" in these cases and the bonfire would have to be occurring frequently - eg. weekly. If the problem continues we will attempt to witness the problem ourselves.