Your regional council and central government are taking various steps to control air pollution in Greater Wellington.

Keeping watch

Greater Wellington has been monitoring air quality around the region since 1997 to find out where pollutants in air might affect people’s health.

We’re maintaining an ongoing programme with a network of air quality monitoring stations around the region. Using specialised instruments they continuously sample air for fine particles (PM ₁₀), carbon monoxide (CO), and nitrogen dioxide (NO ₂).

We have also compiled an air emissions inventory which tells us what type of sources are the biggest contributors to air pollution in the region.

There are permanent air quality monitoring stations in central Wellington City, Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt, Wainuiomata and Masterton. We also have two mobile monitoring stations to investigate potential ‘trouble spots’ and monitor locations suspected of having air pollution problems.

One such location is the intersection of Vivian and Victoria Streets in Wellington City, particularly on calm days. We’ve established a transport emissions air quality monitoring station there to assess the level of risk for people in the area and how much motor vehicle emissions are contributing to the problem.

Setting standards

The Government has set national environmental standards controlling the levels of pollution in our air. In our region, Greater Wellington is responsible for ensuring that our air quality meets these standards.

From mid 2006, the Government is also introducing a check on emissions from vehicles. Your car will be tested every time it goes in for its Warrant of Fitness.

Promoting public transport options

Greater Wellington subsidies of around $30 million a year for bus and train services help ensure public transport is conveniently accessible for as many people as possible.

We also plan the roading network and strengthen public transport infrastructure with facilities like rail/bus interchanges.

For more information, see the transport pages at Greater Wellington’s website.