TORONTO - The province is determined to lift the ban on clotheslines in Ontario communities in time for the summer sunshine, ending what many have called a "draconian'' practice that discourages energy conservation, Energy Minister Gerry Phillips said Monday.

"We have a clothesline -- both at our home and at our cottage,'' Phillips said. "My neighbour has her clothes out all winter long . . . . Most homes right now can put a clothesline and it's worked pretty well. Let's get on with it.''

Outdoor clotheslines are currently banned under some municipal bylaws and contracts with home builders. But Phillips said Ontario is looking at allowing clotheslines for anyone who lives in a freehold detached, semi-detached or row house.

Before clotheslines can become legal, Phillips said the province is asking for public input on how to lift the ban over the next two months. The consultation will not include condominiums or highrises, which will be examined separately, Phillips said.

It just makes sense to allow homeowners to use clotheslines, Phillips said.

Clothes dryers use about 900 kilowatt hours of electricity a year on average, or about six per cent of residential electricity consumption. By hanging one-quarter of their laundry loads out to dry, Phillips said consumers could save about $30 a year on their electricity bills while helping to reduce greenhouse gases.

"It's a no-brainer,'' he said. "It's a really good idea.''

The Liberals passed an energy conservation leadership law shortly after their election in 2003 that included a clause which allows the province to abolish local bans on clotheslines imposed by developers through sale agreements and residential associations.

But the Liberals have never taken advantage of the clause, so it remains against the law in some communities to hang clothes out to dry.

Theresa McClenaghan, executive director with the Canadian Environmental Law Association, said it's high time clothes were allowed to flap in the wind. McClenaghan is one of thousands of Ontarians who hasn't been able to put up a full-scale clothesline in her backyard because of the outdated covenant.

The clause was imposed 21 years ago when her home in Paris, Ont., was built and has been standard for decades of new developments, she said. It all stems from an "antiquated view'' of what streets and backyards should look like, she said.

"We have a very different idea now about what looks good,'' McClenaghan said.

"Most people now think that clotheslines look great. To us, they are now (associated) with fighting global warming and saving energy. In the 1960s, those issues weren't appreciated.''

The province's chief conservation officer recently stepped up the pressure to end clothesline prohibition, calling on the Liberals to allow clotheslines back into many suburban developments by taking advantage of their own law.

Peter Love said clothesline bans were passed at a time when priorities were different, and the time has come for people to "have the right to dry their clothes outside.''

Keith Stewart, manager of the World Wildlife Fund's climate change program, said it's about time the government gave clotheslines the respect they deserve.

"This is a simple, easy thing which they should do,'' said Stewart. Love also called on the province to lift the ban on solar panels, he added. "That's also really important in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.''

But critics are wondering what took the Liberals so long to make such a simple gesture. Conservative John Yakabuski said the Liberals have had over four years to lift the ban, but did nothing.

"There is no sensible reason not to allow people to dry their clothes outside,'' he said. "People can choose to dry their intimates inside. Should they choose the outside, it shouldn't be offensive to anyone. They hang on a rack in a clothestore.''

NDP Leader Howard Hampton scoffed at the fresh Liberal rhetoric on clotheslines and took the government to task for taking so long.

"La di da,'' he sneered.

"Five years into the (Liberal) government, they want to debate making clotheslines legal. They should have done that in the first two months of government. This is complete inaction on things that are no-brainers.''