The council has agreed to introduce restrictions on fireworks in nine zones in the city to minimise the impact of Bonfire Night.
A Firework Control Zone (FCZ) bans the use of fireworks in a specific area – and were used in Balerno, Calton Hill, Niddrie and Seafield last year. There were still a number of disturbances in the city particularly in Niddrie where emergency services were under attack.
This resulted in the conviction of a 24 year-old man involved in the disorder. Jordan McMillan was found guilty of culpably and recklessly supplying fireworks to individuals who were involved in public disorder and who were throwing fireworks at police officers and members of the public and into the roadway to the danger of severe injury at Niddrie Mains Road on 5 November last year. He was sentenced to a 10 month restriction of liberty order where he will have to stay within his home address between 7pm and 6am. At the time McMillan was sentenced Chief Superintendent David Robertson the Divisional Commander for Edinburgh said that he knew McMillan did not act in isolation and this would be followed by other convictions.
Local people were asked to submit proposals for their areas to become a potential FCZ. Community groups said in their applications they wanted to protect their areas against the misuse of fireworks and to protect animals and vulnerable people. Edinburgh Zoo has welcomed the introduction of an FCZ in Corstorphine.
RZSS deputy chief executive Ben Supple said: “We are very grateful to the council for creating a fireworks exclusion zone around Edinburgh Zoo.
“Roxie the baby red panda sadly choked to death on her sick last bonfire night and it is very likely that this was due to stress from fireworks.
“The loud bangs would have been incredibly frightening for her and fireworks may have also contributed to the death of her mum Ginger five days earlier.
“Firework exclusion zones are an important step to protect animals in zoos, pets, horses, livestock and wildlife.
“We are also supporting calls from animal welfare charities to ban the sale of fireworks to the public, with only drone or light displays used at organised events.”
Fireworks will be banned under the rules imposed by an FCZ in these areas of the city:
Balerno
Calton Hill
Corstorphine
Gracemount
Longstone
Moredun
Niddrie
Sighthill.
Culture and Communities Convener Councillor Margaret Graham said: “We want everyone to be able to enjoy Bonfire Night safely and responsibly and these FCZs are part of our efforts to ensure that.
“The new FCZs being introduced are based on community requests and respond to real concerns around the safety of people and animals in these areas. This is in addition to the FCZs first introduced last year, which we found had a really positive effect.
“This is just one tool for minimising the negative impact of fireworks at this time of year, and we’ll continue to work closely with partners to look at different ways of addressing the issue.”
It is intended that FCZs will align with any Dispersal Zones planned by Police Scotland around Bonfire Night. They will also support work to tackle antisocial behaviour with partners like Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) as part of the Citywide Bonfire Strategic Planning Community Improvement Partnership (CIP). This includes patrols of fly-tipping hotspots, co-ordination of CCTV cameras, visits to premises licensed to sell fireworks to conduct safety checks and youth engagement initiatives.
