Cliviger village set for new Burnley Council smoke controls

Burnley Council's executive on Wednesday night authorised a review of the existing regime with a view to plugging current gaps.

The senior councillors were told the main area to be affected was the village of Cliviger on the outskirts of the borough.

A report to the meeting said: "Currently most of the borough is covered by Smoke Control Orders, however there are some areas of new development outside the Smoke Control Area.

"These areas were not included when the orders were made in the 1960s and 1970s as at the time they were less densely populated.

"As residential developments have increased in these areas wood burning stoves have become more prevalent.

"Smoke Control Areas were first introduced under the Clean Air Acts 1956 and 1968 when smog from industrial and domestic burning of coal were thought to be causing hundreds of premature deaths."

The council's chief operating officer Rob Dobson told the meeting: "The main area affected by this would be Cliviger.

"It will also clear up a small grey area in Burnley town centre."

Environment boss Cllr Howard Baker said: "When this first came in it was brilliant.

"The fog lifted in Burnley.

"But this is a bit like declaring a radiation free zone. The smoke goes where it wants so we will have to see what happens."

The senior councillors also agreed to join with Chorley Council and South Ribble Council to appoint a specialist consultant to review all three boroughs Smoke Control Orders together using a £11,710 environmental grant from the government.

The meeting agreed to look at two options - one is for the whole of the borough to be declared a Smoke Control Area with a new order and the second to keep the existing orders in place and to introduce new orders to cover those parts of the borough that do not have them.

The review will also consider if house boats moored on the canal within the borough should also fall within the scope of the Smoke Control Areas.