Biomass boiler affects life
High PM2.5 levels outside my child’s bedroom window — yet no help from Environmental Health.
I have had an ongoing issue with smoke coming from a neighbour’s biomass boiler for a couple of years, the effects of which have a significant effect on our daily lives. I am regularly unable to open the windows to ventilate the house without it becoming filled with smoke. I am also regularly unable to let my child play in the garden or enjoy gardening myself, as I would normally do, which really gets me down.
Last summer was particularly grim when I was unable to open my child’s bedroom window in the evening to cool it before she went to bed. The room was hot and airless. I attached our portable air conditioning unit to the window, but unfortunately, as the window needs to be open slightly for the pipe to go outside, the biomass fumes filled the room. (AC units are not compatible with many UK window frames).
I am very concerned that, even after reporting the sky-high PM2.5 levels that my child is being exposed to, the Environmental Health Department has chosen not to act. They found every legislative reason to defend the use of the biomass boiler and every reason to disregard my evidence (for example, PM2.5 monitor readings). So, I am left on my own with this now, and I feel that moving house is the only way to protect my child’s health. I don’t know what else to do.