6.Environmental Incidents

The Council operates a 24/7 freephone ‘Environment Hotline' for people to report environmental incidents in Northland. Incidents reported include breaches of resource consent conditions, activities outside of rules contained in a Regional Plan but also natural phenomenon. All incidents are investigated by trained Council employees and the results of each investigation are recorded in a central database.

During 2007-08, a total of 1037 incidents were reported to the Council. The highest number of incidents was reported in Whangarei, which correlates with a higher population density and the urban nature of this area. The most common type of incident reported in 2007-08 was smoke related (21% of the total) and overall, the highest percentage of incidents reported were recorded as affecting air (37% of the total) or inland waters (25% of the total). 77% of the incidents reported in this financial year had no, or only a minor, impact on the environment.