Warning as spring burning season looms in Northland

Follow the rules or pay a fine: NRC sounds warning as spring burning season looms. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Northlanders are being asked to be courteous and follow the rules – or risk fines and other penalties – as the spring burning season looms.

Northland Regional Council compliance monitoring manager Tess Dacre said, in a typical year, about a quarter of all calls to the Council's 24/7 environmental hotline involved complaints about burning and/or associated smoke nuisance.

"Burning of unwanted vegetation and other waste material typically increases during spring because, as the weather improves, people are keen to start tidying up their properties ahead of the warmer summer months."

She said historically, the Council preferred to educate in most cases rather than take enforcement action, but its approach has toughened in recent years, as backyard burning continued to generate large number of complaints.

The harder line also applies to those caught breaching the rules at industrial and trade premises.

"Open burning at industrial or trade premises is not permitted under our Proposed Regional Plan, and businesses breaching this rule now typically receive a $1000 instant fine, rather than the warning they may have got previously."

Dacre says the Council's Proposed Regional Plan effectively bans backyard burning in the more densely populated Whangārei urban area.

She said people living within the Whangārei city airshed – which was roughly bordered by Maunu, Onerahi, Tikipunga, Springs Flat and Hurupaki – shouldn't be burning waste unless they were at least 100 metres upwind of others, or unless they have a resource consent to burn."

Only waste that is paper, untreated wood, cardboard or vegetation can be burnt.

Northlanders outside the Whangārei urban areas, she said, could still have outside fires, provided they didn't cause offensive, objectionable smoke or odour to neighbouring residents, the fire was going to last for no more than 24 hours, and it was not within 100 metres of a smoke-sensitive area.

She said NRC was keen to encourage alternatives to backyard burning wherever possible, regardless of location.

"Waste vegetation can be composted or mulched, larger branches can be used as firewood and paper, and other materials can usually be recycled."

Dacre said if waste vegetation was being burnt, problems could easily be avoided just by ensuring it has been given plenty of time to dry out, rather than burning it green.

Even if some burning was allowed, she said Council rules and national regulations specifically banned the burning of a number of materials such as rubber tyres, coated metal wires, treated timber, plastic containers, motor vehicle parts, and waste oil, on health and environmental grounds.

General information on the rules around backyard burning, including a more detailed map of the existing Whangārei airshed, is available at www.nrc.govt.nz/backyardburning.