- Be considerate of your neighbours.
- Smoke, ash and odours must not cause a problem beyond your property boundary.
- Don’t burn vegetation that is still green or wet as it causes lots of smoke.
- Check the weather such as wind direction and speed to keep smoke away from neighbours and to keep your fire under control.
- Avoid burning on calm winter days. Smoke gets trapped by the inversion layer and forms a large cloud layer.
- Only burn your waste. You can’t burn waste that comes from other people’s properties.
- Don’t burn materials that are prohibited from burning. There is very little domestic rubbish that can be burnt as you must not burn plastic.
- Don’t use tyres or waste oil to start fires. These are prohibited from burning.
- Find out what the Regional Council rules are about burning waste.
| It is prohibited to burn these materials as they are extremely damaging to air quality: - Tyres or other rubber
- Waste oil
- Plastics including silage wrap and agrichemical containers
- Wood treated with chemicals
- Painted wood
- Chip board
- Asbestos
- Metals
- Chemicals
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By-laws are to ensure safe and responsible fires. Check with your local district or city council for what these are. They may include things like:
- Fire restrictions during dry weather (in some rural areas Department of Conservation is the local fire authority).
- Issuing of fire permits.
- No burning at night.
- Someone must stay with the fire at all times.
- Ensuring you have water available to put the fire out.
- Specific restrictions for trade and industrial sites.
Talk to your neighbour or contact your local council if your neighbour’s fire is causing a nuisance. Fires in industrial and rural areas contact Hawke’s Bay Regional Council Pollution Hotline.
Trade and industrial sites cannot burn in the open in addition to the other requirements. You must use fuel burning equipment that has a chimney and a way of controlling the temperature and oxygen. The old 44-gallon drum is not good enough. Also check your local council by-laws.
| For fire emergencies dial 111 and ask for fire. Be prepared to give information on location, including rapid number in rural areas and description of the fire. When you dial 111 for an emergency, Rural Fire Units of trained volunteers will be the first to arrive in rural areas. Hawke’s Bay Regional Council in conjunction with Property Brokers have donated the proceeds from the Small Block Field Day Charity Auction for a number of years to support this rural community service. Join your local Rural Fire Service and you will make new friends and learn new skills. |  |
For more contact your local council or
The rules and policies for burning waste are in the Proposed Regional Resource Management Plan, rule 19 in section 6. This rule covers activities like vegetation burnoffs, domestic rubbish and garden waste and orchard prunings. Industrial and trade sites require fuel burning equipment (they cannot burn in the open). If you cannot meet this rule you require a resource consent. Don’t forget to also check the local by-laws.