Moving Balclutha's air quality monitor could be a "waste of time and money", Otago Regional Council chairman Stephen Woodhead says.
Staff had proposed a new location in the town for its air quality monitoring site.
It was thought the the present site did not accurately reflect PM10 (small particulate) levels in the northeast hill suburbs, where areas of high emissions were identified in sampling runs.
Mr Woodhead suggested at a recent natural resources committee meeting that given the low population of the town, about 4000, and its spread-out nature, it was a waste of time to shift the monitor.
Homeowners in Balclutha burnt a lot of coal, so possibly more emphasis needed to be on practices around heating.
Cr Michael Deaker said for the past two winters, Balclutha had exceeded the NES twice on average each year.
Cr Gretchen Robertson said the council was required to monitor the areas worst affected by air pollution under the national policy statement for air quality.
Any action needed as a result of this report would go through to another committee, she said.
Cr Trevor Kempton said the council needed to look at the bigger picture, including the health impacts, and also realise that it provided baseline information for the future.
