Facts on fire ban ‘misrepresented’

Press, 24 September 1988, Page 18

Facts on fire ban ‘misrepresented’

A Christchurch City councillor, Dr Morgan Fahey, has accused his fellow councillors of misrepresenting the facts in the debate about the city’s planned open-fire ban. None had read the scientific report on air pollution and respiratory problems in the “Medical Journal,” he said. “There is no correlation between air pollution and respiratory problems. It is time for a scientific investigation, not misreports of the facts,” he said. Cr Fahey presented a 40-signature petition to the council, opposing the ban on open fires. With the 1500 objections to the council’s proposed extension of its clean air zone, which includes the fire

ban from 1992, it showed the depth of feeling in Christchurch, he said. The council decided to forward the petition — as it had the objections — to the Minister of Health. Cr Fahey called for the Minister to set up a Committee of Inquiry into all aspects of the clean air zone extension, including open fires. That inquiry should receive public submissions, he said. The council backed his call. The law already allows for the Minister to appoint a commissioner to study objections. The public felt strongly and should be heard, Cr Fahey said. His fellow councillors did not disagree, but said the matter was now with

the Minister, who has the final decision on the extension of the zone. Cr Fahey argued that "the solo mother on the breadline” could not afford the alternative heating of electricity. The total conversion of the city to electricity rather than open fires would cost $9O million, he said. “I urge people not to convert. Keep using your open fire intelligently, with dry wood, not coal. Use it effectively,” he said. The council approved negotiations with the Municipal Electricity Board on incentives for conversion and an approach to the Minister for financial assistance for conversion.