Wood heaters and other solid fuel heaters can remain in homes in the Queanbeyan area. Photo: James Coleman.
Queanbeyan-Palerang residents can keep their wood heaters after their council backed down from a proposed ban.
Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council (QPRC) had proposed banning the installation of solid fuel heaters in some parts of the local government area (LGA) through the Solid Fuel Heater Policy, to reduce the impacts of smoke.
The policy would have only applied to new solid fuel heaters in urban parts of the LGA, while rural areas would have been unaffected.
Councillors voted against adopting the ban at a recent meeting. They also agreed to run an education program to make sure owners understood their obligations in controlling smoke pollution.
Speaking during the meeting, Mayor Kenrick Winchester said councillors had “work to do” on the topic.
“From me, I’ve read through all the comments, and I think confusion regarding the policy does certainly still exist,” he said.
“I think people – a lot of people out there – do think that council wants to ban their existing fireplaces that they have or fear that they’re going to be taken away from them, which is not what the policy is about.”
He also flagged potentially lobbying the NSW Government to “involve themselves” in the issue.
According to a meeting agenda, the original draft Solid Fuel Heater Policy was put on public exhibition in September and October 2024.
A revised policy was then released for feedback earlier this year, with consultation including 2200 visits to the policy’s page on the Your Voice QPRC platform and around 320 submissions.
“In both rounds of consultation [done in 2024 and 2025], more than 80 per cent of respondents did not support the adoption of the policy,” according to the agenda.
A feedback report on the second round of community consultation found that some people opposing the policy saw solid fuel heaters as a more cost-effective option (as opposed to gas or electricity), while others saw the policy as an overreach and said people should choose for themselves how to heat their homes.
Those in favour of the policy raised air quality issues, pollution and health impacts that they linked to wood heaters (such as one person who said the smoke aggravated their asthma).
Two rounds of community consultation saw more than 80 per cent opposition to the proposed policy. Photo: File.
During the meeting, Councillor Katrina Willis also foreshadowed a motion that QPRC adopt the proposed Solid Fuel Heater Policy and run an annual education program on wood heater smoke.
She also said residents had reported ongoing concerns with wood heater pollution, while “enforcement [of existing policy] hasn’t solved the problem”.
“Governments have banned tobacco smoking in hospitals, on public transport, in cafes and restaurants and many other workplaces and public spaces … We wouldn’t contemplate reversing this ban, which is designed to keep people safe,” she said.
“Just like tobacco smoke, secondhand wood smoke is hazardous.”
Other councillors also raised collecting more data on where wood heaters are in the LGA, and informing the public on how to use wood heaters correctly.
Had the policy been adopted, it would have banned people from installing new wood heaters in urban areas of Queanbeyan (excluding Greenleigh), Jerrabomberra, Googong, Jumping Creek, Tralee, Bungendore (including the Elm Grove subdivision) and Braidwood (including the Braidwood Ridge subdivision).
It allowed for the replacement of heaters installed with council approval, and existing heaters did not need to be removed.
