Majority of Canberrans back wood-fire heater phaseout: ACT government survey

A survey of almost 2000 people found 11 per cent of respondents had a wood heater, with those people more likely to be older and live on the city's southside.

The YourSay community panel survey found 52 per cent of respondents supporting phasing out wood heaters, while 19 per cent were neutral.

Twenty-seven per cent of the 1995 respondents opposed an eventual ban on the heaters.

Wood heater owners were more likely to oppose phasing out the devices, with 59 per cent against an eventual ban. A quarter of wood heater owners surveyed supported the phase out.

Environment Minister Rebecca Vassarotti said the results of the survey showed the government needed to continue to understand Canberrans' views on the future of wood-fire heaters.

"As the ACT Government begins its journey of electrifying the city and transitioning away from the use of fossil-fuel gas by 2045, and research on the potential impacts on wood fire heating on health evolves, we will continue to implement our Air Quality Strategy," Ms Vassarotti said.

"Part of this is working with the community to determine the long term future for this heating source, acknowledging that there are already legitimate concerns around the impact wood heater smoke has on people's health."

The Commissioner of Sustainability and the Environment is also investigating the use of wood-fire heaters, which Ms Vassarotti said would be an important contribution to the government's policy.

Three in 10 respondents to the government's survey said they were frequently affected by smoke from a neighbour's wood heater.

Of the respondents who reported being affected by neighbours' smoke, 38 per cent lived in Tuggeranong, 34 per cent lived in Weston Creek and the Molonglo Valley and 31 per cent lived in the Woden Valley.

Tuggeranong residents were also significantly more likely to rate their suburb's air quality as fair or poor.

Almost 40 per cent of wood heater owners said they were planning to or considering replacing or removing their wood heater, with 48 per cent citing environmental reasons and 33 per cent citing financial reasons.

But 57 per cent of wood-fire heater owners said they would never consider removing them, citing their unique warmth, ambience and cost to run.

A third of respondents said a rebate scheme would incentivise them to replace or remove their wood heater.

The ACT government released a bushfire smoke and air quality strategy in November 2021, which said the government would "strengthen measures to address the air quality impacts of wood heaters".

MORE A.C.T. POLITICS NEWS:

The government has stopped short of announcing a future ban, but fireplaces are prohibited in some new suburbs.

Since 2004, the government has run a wood heater replacement program under which people can get rebates if they relinquish old wood-burning heaters.

But sales of wood-fire heaters have increased in recent years, with some retailers last year reporting a rise in demand of 25 per cent and a two-month waiting list.

We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: