MP’s bid to outlaw fire-risk barbecues
Conservative Selaine Saxby brings Bill to ban disposable barbecues to the Commons
AWESTCOUNTRY MP yesterday launched a bid in the House of Commons to bring in a ban on disposable barbecues, after a number of potentially devastating fires in the countryside this year.
Selaine Saxby, the Conservative MP for North Devon, said she did not want to outlaw “the great British barbecue”, but she said a ban on disposable barbecues on open moorland, beaches and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty would help “take control of the risks” they pose.
Ms Saxby said outlawing the instant barbecues would “make sure we can all enjoy our beautiful beaches and countryside safely without damaging them”.
There are regular calls from farmers, moorland rangers and others with responsibility for the landscape to see disposable barbecues banned, and a number of supermarkets stopped selling them in the summer.
Rising temperatures combined with droughts this summer “turned the UK into a tinderbox”, Ms Saxby said, adding that such conditions are “likely to become more regular”.
She said: “We need to adjust our approach to hot weather and one of the products that causes some of the biggest issues to local communities is disposable barbecues.
“This Bill is not proposing to ban the great British barbecue. Instead, it is seeking to make sure we can all enjoy our beautiful beaches and countryside safely without damaging them.
“Whilst disposable barbecues only cost a few pounds, their impact can be so much more than that.
“This Bill is seeking to ban their use in a very limited way to enable local authorities to act where we know that there is a high risk of disposable barbecues causing serious damage. We cannot continue to allow the right to scald a sausage anywhere to cause so much damage and destruction, cost so much to our
vital public services when dealing with disposal barbecue debris. The time to act is now.”
The long cooling period of single-use barbecues causes issues, she said, adding: “This means people cannot move them when they have finished with them, so leave them still burning, or carry when cool enough to pick up, but still smouldering, to a bin.”
She said local authorities are then left to deal with the litter, which “can damage the grass it is placed on, harm wildlife and if used on sand it heats up and can cause injuries to children and pets”. Society is “moving away from single-use culture”, the MP said, adding: “We have successful campaigns every summer to educate people about the risks of the water in hot weather. It is time that we similarly take control of the risks that these disposal barbecues cause.”
Her Disposable Barbecues Bill is listed for a second reading on January 20 next year, but is unlikely to become law due to a lack of parliamentary time.