Odour and fumes from commercial

Odour and fumes from commercial

Odour nuisance

Odour and fumes from Commercial Premises

From time to time residents may experience problems with odour, smoke or fumes that emanate from industrial, trade or business premises.

Odour is the smell that our nostrils are able to detect. Depending on weather conditions, odours can be carried long distances in the air and can affect large numbers of people. Each person will be affected by the same odour in different ways and this is because the sensitivity of smell and tolerance levels varies between individuals.

The sources of this type of disturbance often include:

• smoke from bonfires or chimneys
• accumulations of waste (e.g. dog faeces, food items, etc.)
• odour arising from the manner in which animals are kept
• filthy premises
• odour from industrial, trade or business premises (including agricultural activities)

Please be aware that the council has no powers to deal with cooking odours from domestic premises.

The Environmental Protection Team can take action under Section 80 of The Environmental Protection Act 1990 in cases where a statutory nuisance is identified. Whether or not fumes or odours constitute a statutory nuisance will depend upon several factors. These include:
• severity
• duration
• frequency and
• whether it interferes with the "average" person's reasonable enjoyment of their property.
The Council has to be satisfied that there is some degree of material interference caused as a result of the odour/fumes.  This will require an officer to visit you to assess the severity of intrusion and to what extent the odour affects the enjoyment of your home.
If a statutory nuisance is witnessed then the Council has powers to serve an abatement notice on those responsible.  An abatement notice is a legal document requiring the business operator to undertake the necessary remedial action to prevent the nuisance recurring.

If you are disturbed by odour, smoke or fumes from a commercial premises please contact the Environmental Protection Team immediately on 0208 753 1081 during normal office hours.  If the nuisance occurs during the evening hours please contact our out of hours team on 0208 748 8588.