We all want clean air to breathe, yet across the world this is not a given. Here in the Bay of Plenty our air quality is pretty good most of the time, but we do have our own issues to deal with.
These vary from seasonal issues like dust in summer or smoky fires in winter to pollution and odour issues in industrial areas. Plan Change 13 aims to protect and improve our air quality by setting rules for those who discharge into the air.
Every year our Pollution Hotline receives thousands of calls about pollution across the region. Air quality makes up about 60% of these calls. In response to these concerns our planners have been updating the Air Plan to ensure it best protects this region’s air quality.
These changes are captured under something called a plan change, or in this instance Plan Change 13.
We notified Plan Change 13 on 27 February 2018 and received 80 submissions and 30 further submissions
Hearings were held in October 2018 and Council released its decisions on the submissions on 12 March 2019.
Ten appeals were lodged with the Environment Court against Council's decisions.
For information on the new open burning rules which came into effect following the Environment Court’s decision on 10 June 2020, please visit our air pollution page.