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Hastings

Hastings is a predominantly residential city on the southern part of the Heretaunga Plains. The city is surrounded by agriculture/horticulture and has commercial and industrial areas. There is 1 permanent air quality monitoring site at St John's College.

Air quality in Hastings is monitored at a site located at St John's College, Mahora. For the purpose of monitoring air quality, Hastings includes the city suburbs, plus Clive (on the coast), Flaxmere, Havelock North and the rural areas in between. The continuous monitoring sites in Hawke’s Bay measure the surrounding (ambient) PM10 and PM2.5 levels rather than focus on a particular single source. The St John’s College site therefore reflects typical residential areas, has average traffic levels and is not dominated by any particular industrial source.

HBRC analyses air quality trends for days when poor air quality is expected – we call these ‘characteristic’ days. These are days when the average temperate is below 11 deg C and the mean wind speed is less than 5km/h. This site is part of HBRC’s state of the environment (SOE) monitoring network. Through winter HBRC reports publicly on this site’s compliance with the NES for air quality. The results are also included in the State of Environment report. Mobile and short-term monitoring is also done periodically.

Town Summary
Air quality in this town

The main source of air pollution is smoke from wood burners used for home heating in winter. This typically builds up over 24 hours on cold still days after a southerly air stream has moved through the region.

Sources of air pollution

Home heating Industrial Outdoor burning Traffic Indoor sources Natural sources
  • Show Hide
    • Sources of PM10 emissions
    • Sources of PM2.5 emissions
    • Sources of NOx emissions
    Source Annual percentage Winter day percentage
    Home heating Home heating {{emissions.annualhome}}% {{emissions.winterhome}}%
    Industrial Industrial {{emissions.annualindustry}}% {{emissions.winterindustry}}%
    Outdoor burning Outdoor burning {{emissions.annualoutdoor}}% {{emissions.winteroutdoor}}%
    Traffic Traffic {{emissions.annualmotor}}% {{emissions.wintermotor}}%
    Relative breakdown
    Annual
    Winter day

    The table shows the proportions of the main sources of PM10, PM2.5 and nitrogen oxides (NOx) in this town from home heating, industrial activities, outdoor burning and traffic.  (Indoor, natural and shipping sources are not included in this breakdown). 

    These values come from 2013 data sourced from MfE’s data service.  Consistent methodology was used to calculate these estimates of PM and NOx emissions, which allows comparison between towns throughout New Zealand.  Regional council or unitary authority published emissions information might differ if they were prepared in a different year or used another method. Contact your regional council or unitary authority for more information about PM and other emissions in your area.

Seasonal variation

  • Show wind speed
  • Show temperature
Showing:

PM10

PM2.5

Wind speed (km/h)

Air temperature (℃)

What is this graph showing me?

The graph shows the monthly average PM concentrations at one representative site in this town for the year selected. In many towns in New Zealand, PM peaks in the winter when air temperatures and wind speeds are lowest as more people heat their homes during colder weather, and still conditions mean that there is no wind to disperse the air pollutants.

Sites 1
Monitored sites in Hastings

Monitored sites in this town can be categorised according to location:

  • Residential: Air monitoring site is in a suburban area with a relatively high population density, but not close to a busy road or industry.
  • Traffic: Air monitoring site is very close to a busy road or intersection.
  • Industry: Air monitoring site is close to industry, including heavy commercial and processing factories.
  • Coastal: Air monitoring site is close to the coast where there are high levels of sea salt in the air.
  • NES: A site monitored for compliance with the National Environmental Standards for Air Quality (NES-AQ).

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