Kerre Woodham: Keep the home fires burning

Environment Canterbury councillors may be gone but they won't be forgotten by the residents of Christchurch as they sit shivering in their frigid flats this winter.

Sometime ago, E-Can ordered a ban on open fires and older wood burners - a ban that began this week - citing research that suggested air pollution had caused up to 70 premature deaths from respiratory illness and half a million person days of restricted activity because of the city's smog.

How these figures were arrived at is beyond me and former mayor Gary Moore described the data as flawed - and less delicately as "a tidal wave of bullshit".

Moore was totally opposed to the open-fire ban, as are welfare groups which say that a cold winter will mean that some of the city's older and poorer residents will end up having to choose between eating, warmth or paying the rent.

Renters will find this ban particularly hard. Under the Residential Tenancy Act, landlords aren't required to do anything other than provide a power plug for heating.

While some landlords have opted to replace open fires with the approved forms of wood burners, many have not, and given the expense you could understand why.

On talkback over the years I've had a number of South Island residents who've rung me from their beds because once it starts getting cold at night they can't afford to turn on the heater and their bed is the warmest place in the house.

And for those on fixed incomes, having to find the extra to pay increases in GST, power and fuel will mean it will be a cruel winter.

I appreciate that clean air is important but it's hard to see the benefits in measures that will improve health down the line when you're living in the moment. Remember the big freeze a couple of years ago when, despite the best efforts of linemen from around the country, power was off to some households for up to two weeks?

If it hadn't been for log burners and open fires, families would have had to move out of their homes or faced real hardship.

When the great civil defence disaster finally occurs, I bet there will be plenty of people who'll be glad they kept their open fireplaces.

Aren't we forever being told by civil defence to be ready? When the great disaster does hit us, I won't be thinking about the pollution in my lungs as I sit around my open fire. I'll just be glad I've got somewhere to heat my baked beans and warm my chilled bones.