Future Ban On Old Woodburners And Open Fires In Blenheim

Air pollution levels in Blenheim during May mean that the Marlborough District Council must enforce a ban on the installation of new open fires in houses built within the town boundaries from next year.

At the same time Blenheim residents who rely on open fires and old woodburners are being urged to think seriously about clean heating options.

The Government’s new mandatory National Environmental Standards require local bodies to advise the public when air pollution levels breach the standard and to impose a ban on the installation of new open fires in domestic dwellings within the year of that happening.

Marlborough District Council’s air quality testing recorded exceedances of the national air quality standard on May 23 and May 31 and again this month on June 12. Therefore the ban will come into effect from May 31, 2013 as the standards allow for one exceedance but are deemed breached after the second exceedance

Council’s Environment Committee chairman Peter Jerram says the new national regulations and the existing level of winter air pollution in Blenheim’s urban area means we need to find ways to improve the quality of the atmosphere when the temperatures drop.

“As a Council, we don’t have any choice but to enforce this requirement; no building permits can be issued to install an open fire inside a new, or existing, Blenheim house after May 31 next year.”

But the future use of existing open fires and old woodburners within urban Blenheim is also currently under review as part of the broader review of Council resource management plans.

Nelson has banned the use of open fires since 2008 and Christchurch followed suite in 2010.

“This is an urban issue, and does not apply to houses in the country. We’re just talking about open fires and old woodburners in Blenheim itself – the pollution stems from the concentration of population and is not an issue in rural Marlborough,” said Councillor Jerram.

The Marlborough District Council is urging people who rely on such forms of heating to look at the central government’s subsidies for clean heating.

Background

The Marlborough District Council has primary responsibility for managing the air quality of this region. It is required to find ways to ensure air quality complies with the new mandatory National Environmental Standards (NES) by 2016. Urban Blenheim is currently defined by the Ministry of the Environment as a ‘polluted airshed’, as distinct from a ‘heavily polluted airshed’.

Regulation 24A of the NES requires councils to tell the public when the air quality standard is breached and that they should expect a ban on the installation of open fires in domestic dwellings to be in place 12 months from that breach, whenever that occurs.

Blenheim exceeded its air standard six times from July to August last winter, also experiencing the highest levels of pollution ever recorded here. The first two exceedances of 2012 were recorded in May.
Councillor Jerram says the May air quality has triggered the outright ban on installing new open fires in houses in town from 2013.

He says people burn more firewood as the temperature drops and maybe that has also led to people burning wood that was still a bit green, a practice that would certainly affect air quality, he said.

“Whatever the cause, last year was one of the worst winters for air pollution in Marlborough. With the cold weather well and truly here again, we need to get the message across that our air quality is vital to good health and that we have to look at clean heat,” he said.

Future Moves

A total ban on the use of existing open fireplaces and the phase-out of solid fuel burners that are 15 years old or more is also proposed for urban Blenheim (but not throughout Marlborough) in the current review of the Marlborough District Council’s Regional Policy Statement. These initiatives are required in addition to the ban on new open fires to meet the requirements of the NES.

The public will get the opportunity to make submissions on that proposal when the Regional Policy Statement goes out for public consultation.

In the Regional Policy Statement review, the Council is proposing to:

• Ban the use of existing indoor open fires
• Phase out the use of solid fuel burners that are more than 15 years old
• Ban all outdoor burning in the Blenheim airshed (urban area)
• Allow the installation of only those new multi-fuel burners which comply with the National Environmental Standards.

 

“We have been given a bit of space to find ways to bring our town’s air quality up to standard as the government has pushed the original 2013 deadline out to 2016. But, with an aging population and our growing understanding of respiratory health problems, we can’t afford to procrastinate in addressing the causes of our air pollution,” said Councillor Jerram.

Help For Homeowners

One option for homeowners who rely on an open fire or an old woodburner is the central government’s EECA subsidy for insulation and clean heating.

The District Council also offers Marlborough ratepayers a “Heat Smart” programme where they may borrow the cost of insulation and clean heating for their home and pay that off through their rates over a nine-year period. That arrangement can be made in conjunction with the EECA subsidy.

More information about both these schemes is available on the Marlborough District Council website under Energy Efficiency