Wollongong City Council has decided that education, not cash incentives or fines, is the best way to tackle pollution from wood heaters this winter.
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Council has received a $16,000 grant from the NSW Environment Protection Agency to implement a program to help reduce wood heater pollution in the region.
The agency said that in winter, wood heaters emitted more than seven times more fine particle pollution than cars.
The EPA found that the topography of the Illawarra worked against the dispersion of particles as pollution was trapped in cold air at ground level.
The council was presented with a range of options on which to spend their grant, including offering cash incentives to residents to change heaters, providing educational campaigns and issuing warnings to owners of polluting chimneys.
Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery said the council preferred to educate people rather than insist on them getting new heaters.
"We can get better outcomes with a community education program that teaches people that a fire is not about throwing a few sticks in," he said. "This $16,000 won't go too far and we have a lot of people to reach."
The grant will be spent on pamphlets and radio advertising.
Other local councils such as Port Macquarie used their $40,000 EPA grant to offer $500 to $700 to residents who replaced wood smoke heaters with other alternatives.
Cr Bradbery said the council was also reluctant to issue smoke abatement notices to residents with excessively smoky fires.
Households could face up to $3300 if they ignored a notice.
"That's the absolute last resort," Cr Bradbery said.
"The point is to educate people before they get themselves in that position."
Wood heater pollution emits enough CO2, noxious gas and fine particles to cause "breathing difficulties even at relatively low levels, especially for people suffering existing respiratory conditions", according to the EPA.
Council environmental education co-ordinator Mike McKeon said the program would target high use areas including Helensburgh, Austinmer, Mount Kembla, Figtree and Cordeaux Heights.
"We inhale small particles in the smoke and that stuff gets into our lungs and causes cancer and irritates emphysema, asthma and other respiratory conditions," he said.
Cr Bradbery was quick to assure residents the council was not against wood fires.
"There's nothing better than sitting by a fire with a friend or a cup of tea," he said. "We welcome people having wood fires but they need to be used correctly."
Tips to prevent excessive wood smoke and pollution this winter:
• Burn only dry, aged seasoned hardwood.
• Use plenty of dry kindling to enable a good fire to start quickly with minimum smoke.
• Keep the fire bright and alive until you’re ready to extinguish. Smouldering wood creates the most smoke.
• Burn small logs stacked loosely in the heater. Make sure air can circulate around them.
