Meander Valley Council is switched on to its community, becoming the first in the North to replace its streetlights with energy-efficient LEDs.
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More than 1400 street lights have been replaced in the Meander Valley region in the council’s first step to becoming energy smart.
The council celebrated the completion of stage one of the Northern Lights Campaign on Wednesday.
Meander Valley councillor Deb White said the streetlights had been replaced with 14 watt LED lights.
“It’s going to save 82 per cent of the greenhouse emissions that the old ones put out,” she said.
“The cost of the project will be achieved within eight years, then from there on in we’re ahead and we will be saving financially and green house gas emissions. I think it’s the equivalent of getting 300 cars off the road.”
The council initiated the project five years ago, with all the other Northern councils getting on board too.
“The others are doing their change over, but Meander Valley Council is actually first to complete theirs,” Cr White said.
The celebrations were held at Prospect Vale Market Place with council having a stall to explain the lights along with display solar panels, battery systems and electric vehicles.
“All of those displays point to where council is heading,” Cr White said. “At the moment, the LED lighting is just a part of that. We’ve got solar panels and battery storage in place at the Prospect Vale sports room. We are doing a feasibility study in to setting up a bioenergy for the use of industry at Westbury Industrial Estate.”
The launch coincided with the winter solstice.
“We picked the winter solstice to celebrate because it’s the darkest and shortest day,” Cr White said.
The next stage of the council’s project is to trial road lighting.
Cr White said the project officer had been a standard out.
“Project officer, Craig Plaisted, he is the person who has done all the hard work. Not only does he have a very good handle on the technical side of it, but he’s the one who has created all the partnerships,” she said.
Cr White hopes the initiative spreads throughout the rest of the state.
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