No new laws to protect Derbyshire moorlands from wildfires

A report from Derbyshire Dales District Council details that in the six months from April to September this year there were 26 reports of fires caused by campfires and barbecues in the Derbyshire Dales.

Of these, the fire service reports, three were on Stanton Moor and the rest were throughout the district but not on council land. The council was directly told about evidence of five fires – identified by burnt patches of grass and remains of disposable barbecues – with incidents in Bakewell, Ashbourne and Stanton Moor.

Vikki Hatfield, the council’s neighbourhoods manager, said the number of fires was proof that there was no requirement for a formal public space protection order (PSPO) on moorland in the Dales. A PSPO is a formal piece of legislation which bans certain issues in specific areas, along with associated financial penalties. The council adopted PSPO in April which will last until 2025. This includes fines for not picking up dog faeces and for lighting a disposable barbecue in a public park.

Ms Hatfield said that even if the extra protection was rolled out, it would not be enforced by council staff due to resource issues and would not prevent fires. She said: “We haven’t had any substantial issues with fires and BBQs over what has been a very hot summer. I think what we need to encourage, and I know other shops have started to prevent the sale of disposable BBQs, I think that is the direction we need to go.

“The PSPO is an element [we can consider implementing] but we haven’t seen the evidence to say that this is required in any other areas or even in some of the areas that we have included [in the current protection order]. But we can understand that there was a public and political want to have them [orders barring fires and barbecues] included in our five parks, which we have done.

Cllr Mike Ratcliffe said: “Do you not feel that even though you are evidencing a small number of incidents that have occurred and been reported…there is a feeling that there should be a ban on the use of these public BBQs, hence their withdrawal in many quarters for sale. Therefore, to some degree, it would be in order for us to follow that very sensible sentiment that is being expressed by the public.”

Ms Hatfield said that evidence was a “really big key” when considering a restriction in a public area “and at the moment there isn’t any evidence to support that”.

She said: “I appreciate that members of the public feel that it is a requirement but we don’t have an enforcement team within the council, we have a small number of people that go about doing some enforcement work in hotspot areas, particularly around dog fouling, and in terms of fires and BBQs there is no enforcement of that.

“A PSPO isn’t going to stop that. A ban on sale of disposable barbecues would have more of an impact.

“I appreciate that members of the public feel like it is a good idea but the evidence just doesn’t substantiate it.”