Sydney Northern Beaches chimney wood smoke Facebook stoush erupts
Furious homeowner shames neighbor for trying to keep warm by burning wood in affluent Sydney suburb
- Facebook user angry about chimney smoke
- Says their lungs and brooding birds suffer
A serial complainer continues to trouble her affluent suburb after complaining about the chimney smoke billowing from her neighbor’s house.
The woman, who lives on Sydney’s northern beaches, targeted her neighbor for burning wood in the fireplace at their house.
The woman says she suffers from asthma and that the pollution in her area has become so bad that she has been forced to live in a van.
She previously caused a stir online for her comments about the use of firewood in the area, where the median price for a home is around $2 million.
A woman in Sydney’s affluent northern beaches has complained that the smoke from her neighbors’ wood fire is bad for her health
The woman posted a photo of her neighbors’ house on Facebook shaming them for using firewood in a post that appears to have since been deleted.
“This is my house behind this smoke,” she wrote in the post.
‘My lungs are suffering, our breeding birds are suffering. Please think about cleaner air.’
The woman has been campaigning against the use of firewood in the area since at least August last year.
She revealed that the smoke affected her health to such an extent that she could no longer sleep at home.
“I have to sleep in my van by the beach because sleeping at home is not an option,” she wrote.
‘I am asthmatic, the smoke makes me very unwell. Just as cigarette education has reduced lung cancer in Australia, wood smoke also kills.”
She said she called her council about the problem, but to no avail.
Social media users have objected to her posts in the past, saying they supported the use of firewood.
The woman says she suffers from asthma and has previously caused a stir among locals for complaining about the use of firewood in her area, where the average price for a home is around $2 million.
‘Wood is the most natural way to make fire!’ one wrote.
“I love ours and love the winter scent of my neighbors lighting their room.”
Another added: ‘The cheapest form of heating your house and you want to ban it.
‘I will get rid of my wood stove when the government makes electricity free, because I have enough wood for the next 5 years.’
The woman claimed smoke from the fires was exacerbating climate change – and the claim led to more backlash.
“Smoke pollution from wood fires is not really contributing to climate change,” one wrote.
However, the campaigner said they had ‘read up on the subject, it’s worse than I expected’.