A BUSINESSMAN has castigated two Armidale Dumaresq councillors over their bid to ban wood heaters across the city by 2030.
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In an open letter to Council, New England Building Recyclers’ Martin Chaseling accused Margaret O’Connor and Peter O’Donohue of “promoting their respective party political dogmas [over] realistic, alternative policies”.
“Before Council even considers removing one of the major sources of heating in Armidale ... [they should] put in place realistic, affordable alternatives for Armidale housing that is largely old, uninsulated and occupied by generally lower socio-economic groups in our community,” Mr Chaseling wrote in an open letter to Council.
Cr O’Connor, as chairwoman of the Environmental Sustainability Committee, wants wood heaters phased out from Armidale homes before being banned by 2030.
She is supported by Cr O’Donohue.
Their push somes after monitoring found wood smoke above the safe limit in 28 per cent of days monitored in 2015.
“These results demonstrate we have worse air quality now than in 1999,” Cr O’Connor said. It is estimated a third of homes in the Armidale area use wood for heating.
Yet just 15 per cent of households with wood heaters caused 85 per cent of the problem, Cr O’Donohue said.
At a meeting in October last year, councillors resolved to prepare a discussion paper on the issue before deciding on any bans.
They also sought more community feedback, noting any consultation should conclude by September, when the NSW government is due to introduce new clean air regulations.
In the meantime, a council working group is looking at alternative, affordable heating technologies.
Options include efficient heat pumps and wood pellet fuelled combustion heaters.
“I believe Armidale residents will be rushing to adopt new heating technologies; why not? It’s better for our health and is the right thing to do for ourselves and our children’s health,” Cr O’Connor said.