Ban on releasing sky lanterns on council-owned land

A SOMERSET council has voted to ban the release of sky lanterns or balloons on publicly owned land in its district.

Somerset West and Taunton Council has passed a motion which will stop people from holding ceremonial mass balloon releases or from launching sky lanterns on any land it owns.

The council will also write to the Government urging national legislation banning such releases outright, following in the footsteps of Germany and New Zealand.

This follows a similar motion, approved in December 2020, calling for more notice to be given for firework displays across the district and encouraging local vendors to stock quieter fireworks.

Councillor Ed Firmin brought the motion before a virtual full council meeting on Thursday.

He said: “By obvious logic, anything that goes up has to come down

– and when it does there is no real control over where that happens.

“What that can lead to is animals being affected – whether it’s the plastic of the balloons or the paper and the structure of the lantern, they might caught or be eaten, or generate waste and rubbish in rivers or fields.

“The lanterns also have the potential to create fires where there’s lots of dry grass or hay being left around.”

The motion was approved.