All go for gas

By Mara Pattison-Sowden
WARBURTON will be one of the first towns to connect to natural gas in a $100 million state-wide project if the Liberal-National Coalition wins the election.
Shadow Minister for Energy Michael O’Brien told residents in Warburton last Friday, 12 November, that the project did cost a lot of money, but it was an investment that needed to be made.
Residents, action groups and the Yarra Ranges Council have been campaigning for more than 10 years to have accessible gas in the town, despite claims the granite rock was too hard to break through and the connection to people’s homes would be too costly.
Liberal candidate for Gembrook Brad Battin said residents and businesses were still forced to use expensive bottled Liquified Petroleum Gas.
“If businesses are spending less money on utilities, they could spend more money on employing staff,” he said.
“Natural gas is a cheaper and cleaner source of energy that can lower household costs by anywhere between $600 and $1200 a year.”
Mr O’Brien said the physical process of connecting the township would take between 12 and 18 months.
“The trunk line is already in place just down at Millgrove, so it’s not a question of building a whole new line, just extending that branch out,” he said.
Warburton is still waiting for major development Edgewater Resort and Spa, but natural gas could entice the Crockett Group to change their plans.
Crockett Group CEO Eric Sward said they would be delighted to have natural gas, although it hadn’t been taken account of in their plans.
“We would need to know before we got started, but it’s a positive for the town and for a development of our size,” he said.
“Obviously it would be a lot easier and cleaner to use, otherwise we’d be using the large tanks.”
The Warburton Advancement League has spent years fighting to get natural gas to Warburton, and president Jeff Gill said they were happy to hear some constructive news on the matter.
Local business owner and long-term resident Chris Thomas said natural gas brought a wider benefit for everyone in the community, but he said the government of the day would need to look at providing subsidies to help residents connect their houses to the grid.
Gembrook MP Tammy Lobato said she was the one who first took up the issue of natural gas connection to the Upper Yarra and was successful in getting natural gas delivered for the first time in a century to towns from Woori Yallock to Millgrove.
Ms Lobato said although Warburton presented problems in terms of its topography, the problem was whether the gas companies would actually agree to connect.
“Given that during recent discussions with me, the number of connections required to make gas viable in the town meant companies were reluctant to participate,” she said.
“I am still endeavouring to get gas to Warburton but I will do it properly, through co-operation with gas companies and without imposing an onerous financial burden on residents who want gas but not at any cost.”