Energy consultant Tim Forcey said the laws were outdated and complicated,and pushed developers towards using gas,but some developers had pursued “clever ways” to get around the mandates.
“In the past,gas was viewed as an essential service,so they wrote various rules that makes it seem like you are not allowed to not have it,” he said. “But today,why would we have rules that require gas to be connected?”
The councils want higher sustainability standards across a range of design features,from electric vehicle charging stations to bicycle infrastructure,but the most contentious is the power to ban multi-storey residential developments from being built with gas cooking and heating.
Gas prices aresoaring because of the Russian-Ukraine war,supply constraints and a cold snap in eastern Australia,which have created challenges formanufacturers and caused the market regulator to introduce caps on wholesale prices.
Victoria is bracing for a longer-termgas shortage,with the state government lifting the moratorium ononshore drilling to boost supply,butpolicy experts warn demand must also be reduced.
Consumer preferences are still strongly geared towards cooking with gas,developer Gurner said,but he predicted this would change within the decade as more people tried alternatives,such as electric or induction cooktops.
Victorian Labor legislated renewable energy targets of 40 per cent by 2025 and 50 per cent by 2030,but it has resisted removing gas connections for new builds.
Read said removing gas from homes would appeal to urban fringes and low-income households that would benefit from lower power bills.
“This morning,when it was six degrees outside,I think every gas heater in Melbourne was spending a lot of money,” he said. “We know that the gas price is only likely to go up. It’s a financial penalty to put people in homes and lock them into paying gas bills for decades.”
Read,who formerly worked as a general practitioner,referenced a 2018 report by theMedical Journal of Australia that found around 12 per cent of childhood asthma was caused by gas stoves.
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“That’s quite significant,” he said. “As a doctor,I’m interested in what kind of improvements in internal air quality we might see from electrifying everything and getting away from gas.”
Thirteen councils,including Ballarat,Knox,Moreland and Whitehorse,have backed advocating for planning laws to be changed. Municipal Association of Victoria president David Clark said the councils’ proposed changes would give developers greater choice over using gas and could reduce house prices.
“It’s not about a ban;it’s about providing that opportunity,the flexibility to go a different way,” Clark said. “Housing affordability is one of our biggest issues. Why would you make people pay for gas infrastructure for the next 25 years that are lucky to have a lifespan of five or 10? It just makes no sense you would continue to put gas infrastructure in the ground.”
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