Auckland's clean-air drive strikes a chord

By ANNE BESTON

More than 11,000 Aucklanders have phoned a hotline number to dob in smoke-belching vehicles.

The number of calls to the Auckland Regional Council's 0800 SMOKEY phoneline reached 11,305 yesterday, two weeks into the five-week campaign.

ARC councillor Patricia Thorp said the success of the clean-air campaign strengthened the council's case for a national emission testing regime at testing stations.

"We are certainly surprised at the number of people phoning in.

"We've obviously struck a chord with the public."

The council was working with the Ministry for the Environment to push a case for vehicle emissions testing, but there was debate on how much it would cost to implement, she said.

The ARC is spending $700,000 on its air pollution campaign. It has had to extend the hotline hours because of the volume of calls. The number now operates at weekends.

Once a vehicle is reported, the council sends a letter offering the owner a free emissions test.

A spokeswoman for the hotline said the ARC did not yet have figures on how many had taken up the offer.

ARC spokesman Kevin Mahon said at the launch of the campaign that Auckland was regularly exceeding guidelines on carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide levels at testing sites.

Much of the pollution, he said, came from 20 per cent of the city's vehicles.

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