Opinion: ​Cracking down on firework misuse

I remember a banger costing a penny. If your ‘spends’ were a tanner (not a tenner, Google it, youngsters) a week, you couldn’t really afford to buy them, hoping to get a box of fireworks that you could let off in the backyard on bonfire night. I can’t imagine the 1960s in Peterborough being terribly different at that time of year but who knows?

Move forward to 2023 and the plethora of events to celebrate the wide variety of faiths and cultures that call Peterborough home. Society has changed beyond all recognition since I came to live here nearly 25 years ago.

Displays run by local charities and organisations provide a safe and organised way for people to enjoy fireworks, while promoting community cohesion and raising funds for local causes. However, I believe it is important to look at how we can better protect people, animals, and the planet from their misuse, along with the stress and anxiety it can cause to smaller children, older people, those who suffer from mental health issues, as well as pets and livestock.

Since January 2005, the sale of fireworks to the public has been prohibited, except for from licensed traders. However, fireworks can be sold by unlicensed traders for Chinese New Year, Diwali, Bonfire Night celebrations and New Year. Under the Fireworks Regulations 2004, it is an offence to use fireworks after 11pm and before 7am without permission, except on permitted fireworks nights, when the times are extended. The regulations also allow fireworks use by local authority employees to put on displays permitted by the local authority, or for a national public celebration.

When it comes to our firework regulations, the law has not kept pace with developments, and the Government should look at them to determine the changing impact of fireworks and whether changes are needed. We need, for example, to address the growing calls for fireworks use to be permitted only in public displays or at certain times of year, as well as to look at what can be done to bring the current decibel level cap down.

However, unless these laws are enforced, they are largely meaningless. My concern is that a decade of cuts to local authorities, including, for example, to their trading standards and environmental health teams, has left them without the resources to tackle rogue traders or those breaking the rules. If the Government is serious about protecting the public, animals, and the environment from the negative aspects of fireworks, we need to see investment that allows for a proper enforcement of existing legislation.

I love to see fireworks. I love the smell of the cordite, the sight, the sound, and the colours. The displays around the world at their respective New Year celebrations are a testament to their popularity. It is surely time, however, to bring law breakers, for that is what some are, to book by giving the police and local authorities the resources they need to clamp down on those willing to flout perfectly reasonable laws that enable everyone to celebrate their cultural events in a safe, thoughtful, and considerate manner. Is that too much to ask?