For Clean Air Day we are highlighting the large number of expired wood burners in Waitaha/Canterbury, and the help available for homeowners to upgrade.
Clean air
We are regulating and supporting initiatives to ensure air quality improves and does not impact on the wellbeing of communities. We also work to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants from our region’s transport network and urban environments.
This work includes:
- air quality monitoring (including real-time data) and advice and air quality trends. Our data is also available from the Land, Air, Water Aotearoa website
- air quality investigations, with reports available from our document library
- air quality planning
- air quality implementation and compliance. This includes advice on home heating
- cleaner home heating assistance (note, currently we have paused receipt of applications under the Healthier Homes Canterbury scheme pending a review)
- burner authorisations.
How are we tracking on our Levels of Service?
To achieve this Level of Service we will:
- 28.1: Provide up-to-date information, advice, tools and resources which enable the community to understand air quality issues and take action.
- 28.2: Provide air quality monitoring and investigation services.
- 28.3: Provide assistance to low-income households in Clean Air Zones with expiring burners to transition to cleaner forms of home heating.
How are we doing: The Warmer Cheaper media education campaign was successfully delivered and completed in quarter one. Campaign engagement saw an 8% increase on the previous year. Mailouts to households with expiring wood burners commenced in October 2023. Social and print media will be ongoing though the year to educate public about air quality issues and raise awareness of burner expiry.
Our website provides real-time air quality monitoring data. Data is collected across eight airsheds and is also available on the Land, Air, Water Aotearoa (LAWA) website. Data collected in quarter one across the eight airsheds met the requirements of the National Environmental Standards for Air Quality (NESAQ).
Four applications for assistance to transition to cleaner forms of home heating have been received and processed within the time frame during quarter one. A resource management implementation support officer is in place to manage administration of the subsidy process. Communication campaigns are ongoing and staff are developing a compliance education approach for Washdyke.