Wood-fired BBQ’s sizzle out

Wood-fired barbeques will be a thing of the past at Moturoa/Rabbit Island after this week.

Tasman District Council are removing all of the wood-fired barbeques on the island after council’s insurance company raised concerns about the fire risk to forestry in the area.

The 14 barbeques will be replaced with gas-powered versions, some of which are already installed around Rabbit Island.

“At this stage there will four new single and two new double cookers,” says a TDC spokesperson.

They say there is potential for further installations in future years.

The gas barbeques will be free to use.

“The advantage of moving away from wood and charcoal to gas means a reduction in fire risk posed by the cooking facilities for users and our commercial forestry.”

The new barbeques will be installed on concrete pads and shade sail posts will be driven in now, with shade sails to be fitted during spring.

All of the wood-fired barbeques will be refurbished where possible to be reused but as yet, it has not been decided how many can be repurposed, nor where they might be relocated to.