By ANNA USHER

A short public notice on North Sydney Council’s website has made it official. Gas is now banned in every new home built across the area.

Published last week, the notice declares Amendment No. 1 to the council’s planning rules “in force”. From July 1, no new house or apartment in North Sydney can be built with gas cooking, gas heating or gas hot water. Everything must be electric.

The rule passed on 23 February on an 8 to 2 council vote. It was shaped by just 16 public submissions.

Mosman Collective revealed the ban, and readers erupted.

“Can’t renovate a pool – CAN socially engineer how I cook my food. Morons. Total clowns,” one resident wrote.

“When did Councils get the authority to make these sorts of ridiculous decisions?” another asked.

“This from the most inept Council in New South Wales,” said a third.

“Absolutely mad, typical North Sydney council foolishness.”

And residents were never sent a letter. Council advertised a change affecting every future home in the area with a single notice in the Mosman Daily and a post on its website. The notice confirming it is now law went up the same quiet way.

What the ban actually does

The rule is Amendment No. 1 to the North Sydney Development Control Plan 2025. Council says the switch is for “environmental, health, and economic reasons”.

Gas hot water systems are banned outright in new homes, with heat pumps the preferred replacement. Every new build must prove it is all-electric on the plans lodged with its development application.

The catch most people missed

Knock down an old house and rebuild, and the new one cannot have gas either. The rule specifically covers “the replacement of an existing dwelling”.

Existing homes are safe. If your house already runs on gas, nothing changes, and you can keep it.

That creates a two-tier street. The established home next door keeps its gas cooktop. The brand-new build beside it cannot have one.
Renovations sit in the middle. Alterations and additions are only “encouraged” to go electric, not forced.

Council is not backing down

Councillor Angus Hoy, who moved the motion to adopt the ban, likened the defence of gas to the defence of the tobacco industry.

“Some of the arguments being trotted out in defence of the gas industry these days feels like the kind of arguments in defence of the tobacco industry,” he told the February meeting.

He said 12 per cent of childhood asthma in Australia was now being caused by indoor air pollution, including from gas appliances.

Mayor Zoe Baker, who also voted for the ban, said it was a long time coming.

“It is shameful that the New South Wales State Government hasn’t sought to act, and that local government is taking up the slack,” she told the meeting.

North Sydney is not alone

Councils across Sydney are moving the same way. Lane Cove, Waverley, Parramatta, Hornsby and the City of Sydney have all brought in gas controls through their planning rules.

The City of Sydney went all-electric for new homes from the start of this year.

Cafes and shops are exempt, for now

Councillor Shannon Welch stressed the ban covers only new homes. It does not touch existing houses, and it does not reach shops, cafes or restaurants.

“There is no additional regulatory burden being placed on our local cafés, restaurants or small businesses,” Cr Welch said.

But the door is open. When Council adopted the ban, it also resolved to explore extending the rule to home renovations and to non-residential buildings.

That puts gas in future shops, cafes and offices back on the table.

For now, the line is drawn at new homes. If you are building or buying a brand-new place in North Sydney LGA, it will be all-electric, whether you like it or not.