Mornington Peninsula streets are shining a little brighter, with 3,648 outdated streetlights now replaced with modern LED technology across the Peninsula.
Acting Mayor Paul Pingiaro said "the new lights are more energy efficient and require less maintenance, which means significant savings over time that can be reinvested into services and infrastructure for our community."
The project will receive approximately $630,000 from State Government through the Victorian Energy Upgrades program, and was delivered with support from the Department of Transport and Planning, Ventia, United Energy and Ironbark Sustainability.
The upgrade is expected to save the Shire around $526,000 every single year. Over 20 years, that adds up to $8.3 million back into community funds after project costs.
Acting Mayor Cr Paul Pingiaro said the project is about creating safer and more sustainable public spaces for the community.
"Reliable streetlighting plays an important role in helping people feel safe when moving around their neighbourhoods at night," Cr Pingiaro said.
"These modern LEDs provide consistent lighting while using far less energy, helping us improve our streets while also reducing emissions."
The environmental impact is substantial. By upgrading older lighting technology to high-efficiency LEDs, the Shire expects to reduce emissions by around 1,067 tonnes CO2-e in the first year alone.
Cr Pingiaro said the upgrade also builds on earlier work to modernise streetlighting across the Peninsula.
"Since 2018 we've progressively upgraded around 10,000 minor-road lights to LED technology," he said.
"Together these projects represent our largest emissions-reduction initiative to date and an important step toward a more sustainable future for the Peninsula."
The Shire is now exploring further opportunities to improve the lighting network, including adaptive lighting
To learn more about what the Shire is doing in this space click here
