Improving air quality on the radar as part of council's future plans

The use of wood heaters forms part of that discussion and has again spurred online discussion of plans to ban wood fires in the city.

Armidale Mayor Sam Coupland wishes to reassure the community that council have no intention of 'banning wood heaters' any time in the near future and that wood fire heaters are just a small part of an overall draft planning strategy that seeks to provide a framework for future land use planning decisions and the management of growth, based on the regions social, economic and environmental needs.

"The planning strategy is not yet council policy but it's one where we look to explore not allowing new wood heaters in new builds within city limits," Cr Coupland said.

"So, it's not about taking out existing wood heaters, it's about ensuring that the houses are designed to a standard that won't require wood heaters."

A 2019 UNE study found that 14 people per year die unnecessarily due to smoke and particulates related to the operation of wood heaters.

In 2022, Armidale was named by IQAir to have Australia's worst air quality. It remains an ongoing concern especially in the winter months when smoke settles across the lower parts of the city.

"As our community grows, and as innovation and technology advance, we must work together as a community to address this issue," reads the LSPS.

In the UNE's study on Armidale's air quality, the summary was simple.

"Effective policies are needed to reduce wood heater pollution, including public education supported by health professionals about the effects on health of wood smoke, subsidies that encourage residents to switch to efficient, less polluting home heating (perhaps as part of an economic recovery package), and regulatory changes," Dr Dorothy Robinson and her colleagues concluded.

Cr Coupland said the local strategic planning statement encompasses committing the region to long term improvements to winter air quality.

"The planning statement certainly references cleaner air, it is an acknowledged problem and naturally, with these kinds of issues there's fairly broad views as what's appropriate and what isn't but one thing we are acutely consciously aware of is that people need to stay warm in winter and for a lot of people, wood heating is the most cost effective way to do that, Mayor Coupland said.

Wood smoke particulate is known as PM2.5 and is a known source of particle pollution. It is exacerbated by the cities topography where smoke settles over the city as a brown-haze on still winter mornings.

The LSPS lays out an action plan to 'mitigate the impacts of wood heaters in Armidale during the winter months.'

This includes 'advocating for the inclusion of a PM2.5 limit in the Australian Standard for fuel combustion heaters (AS/NZS 4013:2014).

The draft local planning statement 'Advancing our region- toward 50,000' was endorsed by council at the ordinary council meeting on December 12, 2023 to be placed on public exhibition for a period of 42 days.

Submissions are open until 11:59 pm on Tuesday, March 19, 2024.