Sydney moves to ban gas in new buildings

• By Avi Yemini

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The City of Sydney is moving to ban gas connections from new buildings.

Councillors voted 8 to 10 on Monday night in support of the move which will now be investigated.

It comes on the heels of Victoria’s announcement that gas connections would be banned in new homes and government buildings from next year.

NSW Premier Chris Minns had insisted NSW would not follow Victoria’s state-wide ban.

But Clover Moore’s Sydney city council was not the only one to ignore the Premier.

Waverley in Sydney’s east and Canterbury-Bankstown in the southwest are going ahead with their own regulations requiring new buildings to have electric appliances only.

It remains to be seen whether Minns will implement new planning rules to stop council’s banning gas.

Clover Moore insisted yesterday that councils should "take action" on climate change, despite state government policy.

"The state has the jurisdiction, but I think what councils do is they take action to encourage state governments to do what they should do," she said.

"I will continue to say to the government that we have to do everything we can to address global boiling.”

Randwick Council will vote on the issue tonight, with Liberal councillor Christie Hamilton insisting she will vote against a ban on gas.

“I think that it’s ill-timed given the cost-of-living pressures that everyone’s feeling right now,” she said.