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Cleaning up the smoke
Air pollution affects health and local councils are finding creative means to clean up our air. One example is introducing rules to ensure clean heating is installed in newly purchased homes.
‘Smokey the bear’ uses a low emission vehicle to tour Nelson.
Alison Henderson, also known as ‘Smokey the Bear’, is the Air Quality Liaison Officer for Nelson City Council and visits Nelson homes to educate people about the Council’s new plan rules to tackle air pollution.
Generally, the main source of air pollution around the country is home heating, particularly wood burners and open fires, although in Auckland the main source is vehicles. Regional councils monitor air quality and are taking steps to meet national environmental standards to reduce pollution levels.
Overall, in New Zealand, poor air quality is estimated to cause 1,100 premature deaths each year, according to a Government-funded study called Health and Air Pollution in New Zealand published in July.
To tackle air pollution in Nelson, the City Council is banning open fires in urban areas from January 2008, and phasing out old enclosed burners in parts of the city from January 2010. ‘Smokey’ helps ensure residents know how the rules may affect them and if they are eligible for financial assistance to install a cleaner heating alternative.
Richmond, in Tasman, suffers bad air days and in response Tasman District Council has introduced new rules about the use of wood burners. Since January, when a house is bought in Richmond, the new owner cannot use a non-compliant burner. For a small council with a budget stretched in all directions, this is a creative solution, says Tasman Policy Planner, Mary-Anne Baker.
“The cost of replacing a wood burner with a clean heat system or approved burner is a small proportion of total house value and the buyer and seller can negotiate who covers this cost.”
The Council has raised awareness of the Richmond wood burner rules through real estate agents. At the outset, they received a lot of queries, but now things have settled down and people seem to have accepted the new rule, says Baker.
Haze over Richmond, Tasman
To tackle pollution problems nationally, in 2004 the Government introduced 14 national environmental standards to improve air quality. The standards include five health-based standards and restrictions on resource consents to reduce levels of particulate pollution (PM10) in areas where it is high. The levels set by the standard are intended to protect the health of the whole community including the most vulnerable, such as children and old people.
Other central government action to improve our air includes research and funding for clean heating, and several transport measures including the introduction of cleaner fuels and proposed policies to reduce harmful vehicle emissions.
For more information contact Louise Wickham on (04) 439 7475 or email louise.wickham@mfe.govt.nz
