Air quality; a year-round commitment

This past winter Tokoroa exceeded the PM10 air quality limit a total of 10 times, that's one more exceedance in comparison to last year's numbers.

"Although this is still far too many exceedances, the good news is the severity of these exceedances has steadily been coming down year by year," commented Council's Community Group Manager, Amanda Hema. "Without doubt, the schemes Council has introduced to help our community improve the air quality are making headway. The level of exceedance is lower. In years gone by exceedances could reach in to the 80s and even 90s, now the majority are under 55."

Waikato Regional Council measures the amount of PM10 in the air for our district. PM10 particles are small enough to get into your lungs and can cause serious health problems

So you can see why it is of concern that Tokoroa had 10 exceedances this winter alone, and both our Council and the Regional Council will remain invested in helping our community better the air quality.

"The health of our community is the main concern here," said Mrs Hema, "Together we need to make more of an effort to get the number of exceedances down to match the reduction in the level of the exceedance."

The schemes in place to help our community include Warm Homes Clean Air funded programmes On the House and Split the Bill, which have been so popular amongst South Waikato residents that all funding has been allocated for the 2015/16 financial year.

"This is disappointing for those who have missed out this year, but Council believes the popularity of these schemes can only be a positive sign. It shows our community sees the benefit in replacing their old woodburners with new clean heating appliances, and it means we have warmer homes and cleaner air in our district," said Mrs Hema.

If you are still interested in having your old woodburner replaced through one of Council's WHCA programmes, we are taking names for the 2016/17 financial year. However, if you are looking for a quicker solution, you can do so via the Buy Now Pay Later programme. This programme will see your old non-compliant heating unit removed and replaced, Council will foot the bill and all you need to do is pay the money back on your rates bill over a 10 year period.

"The warmer months are on their way around but it's important we don't forget about our air quality issue. Spring is the perfect time to start collecting your wood to insure it is dry and ready to burn come next winter," said Mrs Hema.

For more information visit our Warm Homes Clean Air pages.