New process for firework control zones requested by the community to be established in Fife

Fife Cabinet Committee councillors unanimously agreed to establish a firework control zone community request process on Thursday morning.

The new process is intended to be a last resort for communities dealing with misuse of fireworks and anti-social behaviour involving fireworks.

It allows groups of at least 25 community residents, welfare groups or community councils to request designated firework control zones within well-defined areas of their communities.

Within these zones, it would be a criminal offence for anyone to ignite fireworks, including on private property like gardens.

“There are already existing restrictions in place to deal with the impact of fireworks, and this is an additional tool for local authorities to consider if there are significant concerns in a specific area,” Joan Lamie, Fife’s service manager for Housing Estates and Safer Communities, said.

“The need for a firework control zone should be evidence based and proportionate.”

She added: “It is expected that other preventative and enforcement measures would have been applied before this new power is considered.”

Ms Lamie said there is currently “no evidence” of a significant number of complaints about fireworks and their use in Fife, but the council was nonetheless obligated to establish the control zone community request process as part of the national Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Act 2022.

However, Councillor David Barratt (SNP for Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay) welcomed the control zone process with open arms.

“For me, it’s abundantly clear that setting off explosives in residential areas without notice is anti-social. Fireworks undoubtedly lead to suffering for pets and vulnerable groups such as those with autism or PTSD,” he said.

“I think the low level of complaints and reports is, in part, down to a culture where people feel they just have to accept it. They know it’s not currently illegal so they suffer in silence.”

He added: “The overwhelming view of people I speak to about this is that organised events are a sensible and pragmatic compromise, but if a community wants to stop unplanned events they should be able to do this.”

Likewise, Councillor Brian Goodall (SNP for Rosyth) said he was “glad to see something happening on this in Fife”.

The Act enables local authorities like Fife Council to designate certain areas as firework control zones within their borders. It also asks them to establish a community request process for the creation and modification of those zones.

“The purpose of a community request is to provide communities with a route to ask a local authority to formally consider whether a zone should be designated, amended or revoked in a particular place within its area,” a Cabinet committee report said.

“It is anticipated that [the community requests] might be a valuable tool for a local authority to become aware of local concerns about fireworks use.”

The council will be able to consider a firework control zone request for the misuse of fireworks and anti-social behaviour involving fireworks, injuries from fireworks, animal welfare concerns, the impact of fireworks on vulnerable groups of people, and for environmental protection.

Once the request is made, it will be assessed and evaluated by the council. If it is validated, the request will kickstart a 12-week public consultation process. Then, the council will have four weeks to make a final decision. Then, the council is required to publish a public decision notice at least 60 days before the control zone comes into effect.

In total, the control zone request process takes at least 32 weeks from start to finish.

Councillor Altany Craik (Labour for Glenrothes West and Kinglassie) called it a “very, very long process”, but Ms Lamie said the timeline has come straight from the national guidelines.

“These are the timelines we’re obliged to work with,” she said.

“If we’re being realistic about it, any requests to be considered for bonfire season next November would really need to be made probably no later than March/April 2025 for it to go all the way through that process.”

However, Ms Lamie emphasised that the control zones are not intended to be a “catch-all solution” to deal with issues involving fireworks.

“This is a discretionary power at disposal of the local authority, and it is a power that should really be used as a matter of last resort when all other measures to tackle this have failed and proven to be unsuccessful,” she said.

Fife Council will work with local elected members, Police Scotland and other partners to help determine whether a firework control zone is the best approach to address an issue.

The control zones are not expected to impact public fireworks displays on behalf of charitable, religious, youth, recreational, community, political or other similar organisations.