Rotorua's airshed will be extended from Friday to include areas of new development

Rotorua's airshed is being extended. photo / Felix Desmarais

The Rotorua Airshed boundary will be extended from tomorrow, June 3, to include future residential housing developments.

The Ministry for the Environment granted Bay of Plenty Regional Council's request for an extension of the airshed.

Council planning manager Julie Bevan said the airshed extension was a positive move towards protecting air quality in Rotorua.

"We really appreciate the community's significant efforts to improve air quality over the past 15 years.

"This airshed extension will help to protect Rotorua's air as the city continues to expand."

She said there was a need to keep working to reduce air pollution and improve air quality to protect the health and wellbeing of the community.

The current rules are not changing, they will just apply to more properties.

"On top of ensuring that additional particulate matter from smoke is not added to Airshed, this will also ensure certainty, consistency, and fairness for developments across Rotorua City."