Environment chief Councillor Adam Harrison

CAMDEN has announced a crack­down on burning wood to improve the air quality in the borough.

Once seen as a cosy, and even eco-friendly, way to heat your home, burning wood and solid fuel emits harmful pollutants and PM2.5 particles that are bad for the environment and human health.

Air pollution is the most significant environmental risk to health in the UK.

It’s responsible for 109 premature deaths in Camden every year. Only a small number of households burn wood – including with the use of luxury stoves – but the impact is distributed across the borough and London.

Camden’s environment chief Councillor Adam Harrison said: “Since 2000, Camden has been designated a smoke control area which prohibits the emitting of smoke from buildings. Now it has proposed to extend the area to incorporate the whole borough including people living in canal boats on the waterways.

“In a smoke control area, you are only allowed to burn certain authorised fuels unless using an appliance exempted by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), and it is an offence to emit smoke from a chimney.

He added: “We want no one in the borough to experience poor health because of the air they breathe.

“We were the first local authority to adopt the World Health Organization air quality guidelines and have set an ambitious target of achieving these limits borough-wide no later than 2034.

“The development of modern wood burning stoves, and the marketing of wood burning as an ‘eco-friendly’ heating source are leading to an increase in the popularity of solid fuel heating.

“All forms of solid fuel heating, including the use of modern appliances, produces air pollution that can damage our health.”

Chimney smoke from canal boats makes up a small contribution to the overall emissions in Camden but represents a serious health risk for the boating community and for people living and working alongside the Regent’s Canal.

Objections and feedback on the proposal should be raised by Thursday 20 March.

Visit consultations.wearecamden.org/supporting-communities/smoke-control-order-2025