If you would like to report an issue with smoke or smells, please fill in the online form below.
What can you do to help?
We’ll investigate the complaint. We can look into emissions of smoke, fumes or gases, dust, steam or smell.
If the complaint is justified, we may serve an Abatement Notice to the person responsible. Failure to comply with the abatement notice may result in prosecution in the Magistrate’s Court.
What is a statutory nuisance?
Statutory nuisance is identified under specific law. Some examples of smoke and smells that might be a Statutory Nuisance are:
- Smoke emitted from premises that might affect your health or is a nuisance. For example, dark smoke from chimneys of any industrial building is prohibited. Some garden fires might be a nuisance.
- Fumes or gases emitted from private premises that might affect your health or is a nuisance
- Dust, steam, smell or other effluvia arising on industrial, trade or business premises that might affect your health or is a nuisance.
In some cases odour caused by spreading on agricultural land can be reduced. Farmers do need to spread, so some odour is to be expected.
Action by individuals
You might want to take the matter to a Magistrate’s Court. You must provide evidence that the nuisance exists or is likely to recur. Before action can be taken, you must notify the person responsible for the alleged nuisance that you intend to take the matter to court.