Outdoor burning

Before burning, ensure you're following these five "must-dos" for a safe, efficient and nuisance-free burn:

• Check it's alright to light: Visit checkitsalright.nz and use the three-step tool to find out if you can light your fire, what the fire risk is, and what you should do to stay safe.
• Complete a smoke management plan: This is a legal requirement. The plan covers things such as the material that is being burnt, the weather forecast and who may be affected.
• Understand the Canterbury Air Regional Plan (CARP): The CARP lays out the rules and regulations for burning. It's especially important to understand section 7 of the plan.
• Read the guide on stubble burning (PDF file, 1MB): Fire and Emergency New Zealand's guide gives advice on things such as firebreaks, weather, the right way to light, and insurance.
• Check you're not burning in a buffer zone: Burning in buffer zones around Ashburton or Timaru require resource consent. More information follows:

Crop residue buffer zones

There are two designated crop residue burning buffer zones in the Canterbury Air Regional Plan: Timaru and Ashburton. Inside these zones, anyone wanting to carry out crop residue burning must have resource consent.

We know crop residue burning is important for many arable farmers, so the creation of these buffer zones give farmers certainty they can do it, provided conditions are met.

The following two aerial images show the properties that lie inside the buffer zones.

If you are unsure, contact us on 0800 329 276.

Timaru Crop Residue Buffer Zone

Ashburton Crop Residue Buffer Zone

Smoke management plans are required for any crop residue burning and for any outdoor burns that last for three or more days.

We provide a Smoke Management Plan template (PDF file, 102KB) that can be filled out digitally or printed out and filled out by hand. It covers everything in Schedule 3 of the Canterbury Air Regional Plan.

You can use an alternative format if you wish, provided all the required content is covered and provided it can be shown to Environment Canterbury on request.

Hill and high country is land with a slope of more than 20 degrees and/or land that is more than 600 metres above sea level. Burning vegetation in the Canterbury hill and high country is allowed provided certain conditions are met.

You must give Environment Canterbury at least 20 working days’ notice before burning. To do this:

• Complete the online hill and high country burning form

Hill and high country burning conditions

• burning must not occur within five metres of the bed of a river (if the wetted bed is more than two metres wide)
• burning must not occur within five metres of a lake or any wetland boundary, where the wetland is more than 0.5 hectares)
• within the area to be burnt:
  • the extent of bare ground shall be less than 20 percent and;
  • the slope of the land shall be less than 35 degrees and;
  • the land to be burnt must be less than 900 metres above sea level

• vegetation in the area to be burnt must not have been burnt within the last ten years
• burning must be carried out between 1 June and 31 October
• the burnt area must be either
  • spelled from grazing for a minimum of six months following burning or;
  • sown with pasture seed within six months of burning or;
  • planted with trees within one year of burning.

Failure to notify us prior to burning vegetation in the hill and high country may result in enforcement action. It also pays to check if you need a fire permit from your district or your local Fire and Emergency New Zealand Principal Rural Fire Officer. If your burn does not comply with our hill and high country burning conditions, you'll need a resource consent.