National retailers support Ban the BBQ campaign

National retailers support Ban the BBQ campaign

National retailers have stopped selling disposable BBQs following calls to protect the environment.

Two years ago, the New Forest National Park Authority called on retailers in and around the New Forest to remove disposable BBQs from sale and for a continued ban on fires and BBQs in the open countryside of the National Park. It followed a massive wildfire in neighbouring Dorset and rangers having to put out 60 BBQs in the New Forest on one hot summers day when the fire risk was declared high.

Since then, the New Forest has now been declared a complete no BBQ and fire zone and 50 shops and outlets in and around the New Forest have taken disposable BBQs off sale.

In June last year Co-Op led the way nationally, taking the unprecedented decision to remove disposable BBQs from sale in stores within a mile radius of national parks in the bid to stop wildfires.

Now Waitrose and Aldi have decided to nationally ban disposable BBQs in all their stores to reduce fire risk and cut down on waste by taking single-use BBQs off sale. Aldi said its ban on them would remove 35 tons of single-use waste packaging.

The campaign started in May 2020 when Brockenhurst business Streets Ironmongers pulled disposable BBQs from sale, and Brockenhurst Business Association urged other retailers in the village to join them. Further support came from many independent stores, and local support was negotiated with national retailers including Waitrose, Marks and Spencer, Tesco and Sainsburys taking them off sale around the New Forest.

Our campaign also sparked New Forest East MP Dr Julian Lewis to bring the matter up in Parliament. High Peaks MP Robert Largan is now sponsoring a Private Members Bill to prohibit the use of disposable BBQs on open moorland; to give local authorities the power to prohibit the sale of disposable BBQs in their area; and for connected purposes. The second reading is due on 6 May 2022.

Last year Dorset Council and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council also put in measures to control the use of disposable BBQs and have been asking local retailers to withdraw them from sale.

BBQs, camping stoves or anything with a naked flame are no longer permitted in car parks or any areas of the Forest managed by Forestry England, the National Trust, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, and Wellow Parish Council. All BBQ facilities at Forestry England sites have been removed, and prominent ‘no BBQ’ signs are at Forestry England car parks and information points.

More than half the New Forest National Park is internationally-protected because of its rare wildlife, the woods and lowland heathland are of global environmental importance for wildlife and their peaty soils store carbon – helping to reduce climate change. Wildfires would cause immense damage to the ground and would release carbon from the habitats as well as damage the fauna and flora.

Fire Facts:

• The New Forest includes large areas of peat which can ignite very easily and burn for days or weeks, which can also smoulder underground and re-emerge away from the initial source. These fires are incredibly difficult to extinguish and are highly unpredictable.
• It can take up to 48 hours for the ashes/embers from a disposable BBQ to cool down completely and even then, disturbing the ashes can introduce oxygen and reignite smouldering charcoal. Embers can travel for up to a mile dependent on wind speed.

Please ask your local store to stop selling disposable BBQs and if you’re a retailer, please let us know you’re supporting our campaign by emailing communications@newforestnpa.gov.uk, and we’ll add your name to our website list.

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Main photo: Mac Hall