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Calls for national ban on sale of disposable barbecues



Calls for national ban on sale of disposable barbecues

August 15, 2022

Damage from a barbecue at Devil’s Dyke

The Chief Executive of the South Downs National Park Authority has called for a national ban on the sale of disposable barbecues.

Trevor Beattie welcomed the move by major retailers to withdraw disposable barbecues from sale, but said more measures were needed to help protect landscape, wildlife and people.

He said: “We need a national ban on the sale of the wasteful, fire-risking, mobile pollution trays we call disposable BBQs. They pose too much of a threat to the National Park and our other precious landscapes – and not just at times of drought.”

Trevor was this week interviewed by Sky News, re-iterating his message, including protecting the livelihoods of our farmers and the property of the 117,000 people who live in the National Park.

The National Park has already had some small fires that have been put out by the fire and rescue service and luckily did not turn into major incidents.

Trevor’s calls come as Southern Co-operative has removed disposable BBQs from sale in all its 199 stores in the region to protect the environment.

Mark Smith, Chief Executive, said: “We have had a longstanding commitment to reduce our impact on the environment. We’ve taken this additional step, to permanently remove disposable BBQs from sale in all our 199 managed stores, to play our part in addressing the impacts of the extraordinarily dry conditions across the south. We hope our members and customers will support this important move to protect our local wildlife and ecosystems.”

The Authority does not have direct powers to ban disposable barbecues in the National Park but we continue to strongly communicate our message that barbecues or open fires should never be lit in the countryside under any circumstances.

Disposable barbecues will continue to be prohibited at Seven Sisters Country Park, which is owned by the National Park Authority.