Agenda item

The Cultural Services and Parks Manager presented the report regarding Councillor R. Hunter’s Motion regarding the use of Fireworks, which had been referred from a previous Full Council meeting.

During consideration of this item the following Members’ attention was drawn to the following:

·       The types of fireworks used by the Council were being considered and a procurement process was underway to assess what products were available to provide alternative types of fireworks. The procurement process would include the consideration of quieter fireworks and understanding if their use would impact on the environment and climate change. In addition to this, different types of events were being considered such as light shows and were a possibility for future District events.

·       Due to the Covid-19 pandemic it was still uncertain as to whether public events would take place in the District and it was dependent on the easing of lockdown restrictions.

·       The Safety Advisory Group (SAG) were working alongside the Events team to mitigate any impact on residents and animals in respect of fireworks. Members were informed that all events were assessed on a monthly basis by SAG due to the impact of Covid-19 and the restrictions around holding large gatherings. It was reported to Members that the Communications Team were involved in the promotion of any Councill-run event to ensure that residents were made aware in advance that an event was taking place.

Members queried whether there were any plans for a publicity campaign should any events take place during 2021. The Cultural Services and Parks Manager informed Members that there would certainly be a campaign to raise awareness of an event if and when it was to take place. Members expressed that an important part of any publicity campaign should be to raise awareness of the impact of the use of fireworks in a private setting. Officers assured Members that social media communication was a top priority in order to get messages out to as many residents as possible. It was also clarified that plans were always to made to try to ensure that there were no other events taking place on the same day as a Council-run event to help mitigate the impact to residents.

Councillor S. Colella thanked Councillor R. Hunter for bringing the Motion regarding the use of fireworks and felt it important that the Council took a lead in promoting the use of quieter fireworks in both public and private settings. It was with this in mind that he suggested that a recommendation be made to Cabinet that Bromsgrove District Council support the use of lower noise impact fireworks in both public and private displays across the District and encouraged other events, both public and private, to choose fireworks with a lower noise impact. The recommendation was seconded by Councillor R. Hunter and although Members were generally supportive of the recommendation it was felt it might be premature, particularly as the procurement process for the use of quieter fireworks was still not completed and the impact on the environment not yet fully understood. Members requested that they be updated to understand what fireworks were to be used by the Council going forward and, if appropriate, the recommendation would then be submitted to Cabinet. Officers confirmed that this would be possible, and Members agreed that the item be added to the Board’s Work Programme for consideration later in the year once the procurement process was almost completed.

RESOLVEDthat the update regarding Fireworks Motion be noted.