Edinburgh becomes first Scottish council to ban fireworks on Bonfire Night

It will become illegal to set off fireworks in four Edinburgh locations this Bonfire Night after councillors agreed which areas should be designated as “control zones”.

Fireworks control zones will be introduced in Niddrie, Calton Hill, Seafield and Balerno from 1-10 November to curb anti-social behaviour and minimise the impact on animals and vulnerable people.

Councillors have rejected calls for a city-wide ban after Scottish Government officials said they would “likely challenge” the decision.

In addition, fire and police departments have reported that they will struggle to adequately resource and enforce Fireworks Control Zones (FCZs) spanning the entire city limits.

The new rules will make it an offence to use fireworks in a given zone on certain dates, unless it is part of a display licensed by the local authority.

We hope that this will help to stop the disorder and violence against emergency services workers that has occurred in recent years around Bonfire Night, but it is to be expected that such situations will repeat themselves.

In November last year, anti-terrorist police, firefighters and ambulance workers were attacked in Niddrie by about 100 youths with petrol bombs and fireworks, and similar incidents occurred in Southhouse and Sighthill.

David Morrison, station commander for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, told councillors: “Regardless of whether there is a fireworks control zone or not, year after year we will see anti-social behaviour from people who don’t comply.”

Asked whether the service would cope with the introduction of the city’s fast lane zone, Mr Morrison said: “The simple answer is no.

“We know we are stretched to our limits year in and year out, so if I were to add to that additional demand, it would be remiss of me to say it wouldn’t be a problem.”

However, Scottish National Party (SNP) councillors joined the Greens in backing the introduction of a capital-wide crackdown to avoid misleading residents and stigmatising communities, during a debate on the new powers at the Culture and Communities Select Committee on Friday 23 August.

Councillor Kate Campbell, SNP, said: “We think people will be very confused if it is an offence to light fireworks in your garden in small areas along the side of a road but not further along.

“We think it’s quite a difficult position to be in. I personally think that certain communities can be stigmatized, but also that by doing this we don’t necessarily solve the problem.

“For example, the Niddrie proposal is about a very specific number of streets where we have seen rioting in previous years, but we have also seen rioting in other parts of the community in other years.

“It seems like a bit of a contradiction to say that in some parts of the city it’s criminal activity and in others it isn’t.”

The report said the Scottish Government “stressed that the legislation was not intended to enable FCZs to cover the whole of a local authority area and indicated that if such an arrangement were implemented, it would be likely to challenge that decision”.

Val Walker, Labour’s culture and communities co-ordinator, said: “The guidance issued by the Scottish Government is clear that these zones are smaller areas within an area, not the whole of a city.

“What worries me is the impact on our fire and police services, who have rightly… made it clear that they are unable to provide them with sufficient resources.

“This will be the first year of implementing these checks and the experience from this year will inform our review of them and extend the consultation period to involve more people, groups and organisations.”

According to the Scottish Government, the FCZs are intended to “support a cultural change in the way fireworks and other pyrotechnic articles are used”, but are not intended to be a “one-size-fits-all solution to fireworks issues”. The government states that the powers should be used alongside other prevention and enforcement tools, such as dispersal zones and community engagement.

The Committee voted 6 to 5 in favour of adopting the four individual FCZs proposed in applications submitted by various organisations.

The application for the Balerno zoning was submitted by the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA), while the Edinburgh Cat and Dog Home supported the Seafield zoning application, Friends of Calton Hill for the city centre and Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership on behalf of service users and care staff in Niddrie.

The council will notify residents of the exact boundaries of the agreed zones before November and launch an information campaign to ensure communities are aware of the new rules.