West Lothian communities get more time to comment on firework safety plans
Community groups in West Lothian have been given extra time to air their views on firework safety in what could be a prelude to a bid to set up Firework Control Zones.
Livingston South Councillor Maria MacAulay won a guarantee of an extra three weeks for community groups to make their contribution following a safety awareness event in April.
Several groups in Livingston last year expressed interest in setting up the control zones in a bid to control anti-social behaviour.
Initial attempts to establish the new feature- first introduced by Holyrood legislation last year- had limited success at trouble spots in Edinburgh.
Councillor MacAulay, who asked for more time for community groups, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: 'I'm really pleased to see that communities are being given extra time – that's a positive step forward.
'Although the meeting has already taken place, I'm glad that those who weren't able to attend will still have the opportunity to have their voices heard. I'm more than happy to pass on any concerns they have.'
A meeting of the Public and Community Safety Committee heard that the aim of Blackburn event was to provide an opportunity to gather views on the West Lothian Community Safety approach to firework safety and to offer an opportunity to community groups to share their views on the legislation which controls the sale and supply of fireworks and to feed these comments back to the Scottish Government.
The event specifically looked at the process of setting up Firework Control Zones, community engagement, supporting licensed events and promoting quieter alternatives
Rules on the sale and supply of fireworks were also considered.
All agreed that there is a requirement for a national awareness campaign on firework safety, and the legislation relating to fireworks. This should cover impact, noise, mess from fired fireworks, anti-social behaviour, parental responsibility, education, legislative provisions and penalties for breaches.
The community groups which took part agreed that there should be a restriction on the dates during which fireworks can be purchased by members of the public and also a further restriction on the dates when members of the public can set off fireworks should be reduced.
There was agreement from all who took part that the use of low noise fireworks should be promoted or the use of loud fireworks and pyrotechnics restricted.
Conservative councillor Alison Adamson expressed frustration with the current firework legislation, especially around firework sales.
She told the meeting: 'I'm disappointed that members were not invited to this event. I do feel that members could have helped promote this.'
Julie Whitelaw, the head of Housing, Customer and Building Services said the information shared with the community groups provided by Scottish Fire and Rescue Service had already been shared with councillors.
Councillor Adamson said: ' I'm hugely frustrated by this whole fireworks business. The legislation by the Scottish Government was never going to be good enough. We are going to have to take this further."
Praising local initiatives she highlighted the difficulty in controlling the supply of fireworks and pointed to an incident earlier this year when a van filled with fireworks exploded in the west of Scotland.
After the meeting Councillor MacAulay told the LDRS: 'It would be really positive to have emergency front-line workers involved in these discussions, as they deal directly with the impacts of fireworks – whether that's through anti-social behaviour, noise complaints, or safety incidents. Their experience and insight are invaluable.
'It's also worth noting that Westminster retains powers over the sale and regulation of fireworks, which limits what the Scottish Government can do on its own. For example, while Scotland has introduced control zones and restricted times for use, it cannot legislate on the import, licensing, or sale of fireworks to the public – those powers remain reserved to the UK Government.
'I look forward to seeing how this progresses and will continue to support open dialogue across the ward.'
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