If your current home is in Christchurch Clean Air Zone 1 (most of the metropolitan area) you will not be able to install a wood burner in your new home, even if your current home has one. This is existing policy; since 2002 home owners have not been permitted to install wood burners in new homes as it contravenes the existing air plan.  This policy is currently under review given the events of September and February however the data gathered to date suggests that it is looking likely that the existing policy will remain.

However, home owners do have options if they are moving from Christchurch’s residential red zone and want to have a wood burner in their new house. They can buy an existing home in Christchurch which has a compliant wood burner or they can build in an area outside the Christchurch Clean Air Zone 1.

Owners of houses built outside the Christchurch Clean Air Zone 1, may be able to install a compliant wood burner.   However this is not a simple process and you may need to apply for a resource consent (which can be expensive) with no guarantee that it will be granted. 

If the new home is in Clean Air Zone 1 in Rangiora or Kaiapoi, you will require both a resource consent from Environment Canterbury and a building permit from Waimakariri District Council

In Lyttelton, the rest of the old Banks Peninsula District, the rural fringe of Christchurch city, Pegasus town, Lincoln, Prebbleton and Akaroa it may be possible to install an authorised woodburner (from Environment Canterbury’s authorised woodburner list - Authorised Solid Fuel Burners) without the need for a resource consent, please check with our customer services team. 

For further assistance please contact Customer Service on 03 353 9007 or toll free on 0800 324 636.

 

You can also visit our website www.ecan.govt.nz