Northlanders are being asked to follow the rules - and be courteous - or risk fines and other penalties as the pre-Winter burning season comes to an end.

Group Manager - Regulatory Services, Colin Dall, says in a typical year roughly a quarter of all calls to the Northland Regional Council’s 24/7 incident hotline (0800 504 639) involve complaints about burning and/or associated smoke nuisance.

He says while for a long time the council had typically preferred to educate rather than take enforcement action, its approach had toughened in recent years as backyard burning continued to generate large numbers 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 are now more likely to receive a $1000 instant fine, rather than the warning they may have got previously."

Mr Dall says burning on trade and industrial premises must be done in an "incineration device", which the Plan defines as:

A device made from non-combustible materials designed to burn waste that:

• contains all embers and sparks
• has a grate and lid or spark arrestor, and
• is not used to generate energy.

He says an open 44-gallon (170 litre) drum is not deemed to be an incineration device.

"Those breaching the rules are liable for enforcement action which can range from instant fines of up to $1000, abatement notices and prosecution - the latter with the risk of much stiffer penalties - through the courts.

Mr Dall says last year the council had issued 38 infringement notices ranging from $300 to $1000, 56 abatement notices and there had been two court-ordered enforcement orders for burning-related incidents.

He says the council’s Proposed Regional Plan effectively bans backyard burning in the more densely populated Whangārei urban area.

"People living within the Whangārei city airshed - which is roughly bordered by Maunu, Onerahi, Tikipunga, Springs Flat and Hurupaki - can only burn some waste materials during the period from 01 September to 31 May the following year if the size of their property exceeds one hectare or they have a resource consent to burn."

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

Mr Dall says Northlanders outside the Whangārei urban area can still have outside fires, providing;

• they don’t cause offensive or objectionable smoke or odour to neighbours
• if the fire is going to last for more than 24 hours and is within 100 metres of a smoke sensitive area, the person lighting it needs to notify all neighbours within 100 metres of the fire
• they don’t obscure vision along a public road
• fires only contain waste that is paper, untreated wood, cardboard and vegetation (or animal remains where the burning is on agricultural land).

(This ability to have fires obviously does not apply when restricted fire season or fire bans are in place.)

Mr Dall says in general the regional council is keen to encourage alternatives to backyard burning (regardless of location) wherever possible.

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

If waste vegetation is being burnt, a lot of problems can be easily avoided just by ensuring it has been given plenty of time to dry out, rather than burning it green.

However, Mr Dall says even if some burning is allowed, council rules and national regulations specifically ban the burning of some materials on health and environmental grounds. These include rubber tyres, coated metal wires, treated timber, plastic containers, motor vehicle parts and waste oil.

Mr Dall says general information on the rules around backyard burning - including a more detailed map of the existing Whangārei airshed - is also available at: www.nrc.govt.nz/backyardburning

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