Agenda item

 

Consideration was given to Motion No.146, moved by Councillor C Hobson and seconded by Councillor Arundale of which notice had been given in accordance with Council Procedure Rules No. 53-60 as follows:

 

Fireworks Motion

This Council resolves:

to encourage all organised public firework displays within the local authority boundaries to be advertised in advance of the event allowing residents to take precautions for their animals and vulnerable people.

to reasonably promote a public awareness campaign via the council's social media channels about the impact of fireworks on animal welfare and vulnerable people - including the precautions that can be taken to mitigate risks.

to write to the Government urging them to introduce legislation to limit the maximum noise level of fireworks to 90dB for those sold to the public for private displays.

 

The Chair invited members to speak to the motion.

Councillor C Hobson spoke in support of the motion and outlined the reasons why she had proposed the motion. Councillor Hobson advised that fireworks that exceeded 150 decibels could cause loss of hearing to people and animals. Dogs and cats suffered from severe distress and in some areas, fireworks were going off for over a month. Animals were severely affected which resulted in them refusing to go out.

 

Councillor Cooper advised that he supported the motion but he would like to propose an amendment to include that the Government regulate the size of the fireworks.

 

The Chair advised that the motion had been reviewed by the Council's legal department and parts of the original motion that had been put forward had been taken out because the Council would have been unable to enforce those elements of the motion.

 

Councillor Hubbard seconded the amendment to the motion.

 

Councillor Mawston advised that he supported the motion but he would like to add an amendment that the Government reduce the power of the fireworks.

 

Councillor McTigue advised that she supported the motion, in particular the reduction in decibels.

 

Councillor Coupe advised that he supported the motion and agreed that fireworks needed more regulation.

 

Councillor Rooney referred to a report produced in 2019 which recommended that there should be restrictions on fireworks and that decibels should be set and that local government should be able to enforce the measures. Councillor Rooney advised that she would forward the report to Councillor Hobson for information.

 

Councillor Rathmell stated that he would like to propose an amendment to the motion to say that the Council would develop its own fireworks policy for any event that the Council held.

 

The Monitoring Officer queried that as there were three different amendments, whether the three members that had proposed them would like to combine them into a single amendment to enable members to vote on it.

 

All three members agreed to the combined amendment.

 

The Chair read out the revised motion.

 

This Council resolves:

to encourage all organised public firework displays within the local authority boundaries to be advertised in advance of the event allowing residents to take precautions for their animals and vulnerable people.

to reasonably promote a public awareness campaign via the council's social media channels about the impact of fireworks on animal welfare and vulnerable people - including the precautions that can be taken to mitigate risks.

to write to the Government urging them to introduce legislation to limit the size, the power and the maximum noise level of fireworks to 90dB for those sold to the public for private displays.

 

That the Council develop its' own Fireworks policy for any events held by the Council.

Councillor Arundale spoke in support of the motion and outlined the reasons why he was seconding the motion.

The amended motion was put to the vote.

On a vote being taken the amended motion was declared CARRIED.

 

The amended motion became the substantive motion.

 

The substantive motion was put to the vote.

 

On a vote being taken the motion was declared CARRIED