The severe weather events in early 2023 left a significant number of mixed debris and waste piles in rural areas across the Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti regions.
Cyclone-damaged primary sector businesses (especially orchards, viticulture, vegetables and pastoral farming) are particularly impacted by these waste piles. The waste needs to be removed as soon as possible to meet key timeframes for growing crops.
Given the difficulties around physically removing the waste and the time that would take, affected landowners requested permission to burn the mixed waste on their properties as in many cases it is the only feasible way of removing the waste quickly. The Government has put in place an Order in Council to classify open-air burning of cyclone and flood waste as a permitted activity, as long as certain conditions are met.
The Order requires that anyone carrying out a burn submits a fire management plan to the relevant council prior to the burn.
Read more on the relevant council websites:
Outdoor burning [Hawke’s Bay Regional Council website]
Burning cyclone and flood waste [Gisborne District Council website]