Moving brought no relief in Melbourne

We live in Bayside Melbourne where we have endured years of wood smoke causing long term serious health conditions.

We were forced to sell and move from our previous home because of a wood fire heater being used daily for 7 months of the year. We thought because we were friends with our neighbour they would understand, boy were we wrong.

We had already been in our home for years before the wood fire was installed during a renovation. The flue was so short and our double story house height only metres away was never taken into consideration. They refused to stop burning and use other forms of heating. The best they offered was to burn different wood. Nothing changed, except for me and my family’s deteriorating health. The chimney was right outside my daughters bedroom window who is the one who has developed a serious health condition affecting her for the rest of her life.

Since then various members of our family have also developed more health conditions from exposure to pollutants despite living a very healthy active life otherwise.

We thought after selling and moving all our suffering was done. We built our dream home, paying particular attention to ensuring all doors, windows are double glazed and well sealed, electric heating/cooling and hydronic heating and a gas fireplace used occasionally.

We moved in and started to smell the fires once again, but this time it wasn’t one next door. It’s now multiple houses surrounding us burning wood, whatever wood they could find that was free, including building material/fencing/decking material.

A few years in I suddenly started having a heap of health issues, collapsing and being rushed to emergency various times throughout the cooler months of the year. But just to add “fuel to the fire,” a couple of other neighbours decided to put in fire pits/chimeneas which even though aren’t used daily they are only metres away from our property.

So now I stayed locked inside my home for most of the year praying everyday for a smoke free day so I can open up my house and breathe clean air but those days are few and far between.

I’m hoping in my lifetime our government will finally see some common sense and will ban all wood burning in suburban Melbourne. No amount of wood smoke is safe or healthy and most people have other forms to heat and cook their food. Yet they choose to light up slowly killing those around them, without any care to others health, no regulations about use, no monitoring real time air quality and no end in sight for those suffering.

Surely we have a right to live just as much as others, but whilst this is allowed to continue we will never be able to live a clean, healthy life nor enjoy our own private space at home.