Council’s efforts to be more energy efficient have earned it national attention.
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Wingecarribee Shire Council’s Lighting the Way- Southern Highlands Street Lighting Upgrade project was recently recognised as a finalist at the inaugural Cities Power Partnership Summit.
Held in Kiama in October, the summit brought together more than 150 local government representatives from across the country to hear of the actions councils are taking towards mitigating climate change.
As part of the Cities Power Partnership Summit an awards evening was held to acknowledge and celebrate the actions of those councils demonstrating exceptional environmental leadership.
Wingecarribee Shire Council was a finalist in the Energy Efficiency Achievement Award category for the lighting upgrade project.
The project achieved a substantial reduction in energy consumption through a street lighting replacement program.
Council’s environment and health systems coordinator, Therese Smart said the project provided significant benefits to the shire.
“We started the project just over a year ago in conjunction with Endeavour Energy and since then have replaced approximately 2000 old street lights with new energy efficient LED lights,” she said.
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“Apart from slashing our energy consumption we’ve also been able to cut our greenhouse gas emissions by 524 tonnes per year.”
The new 17 watt LED fixtures are located in predominantly residential streets throughout the shire’s towns and villages.
Council was also part of the winning group entry category sharing a trophy with Shoalhaven, Bega Valley, Eurobodalla and Kiama councils.
Together the five NSW regional-based councils hold regular meetings to discuss climate change initiatives.
Calling themselves the South East Buddies Group the team took home the Knowledge Sharing category.
“Prior to the group forming the five councils were working on separate climate change strategies and energy efficiency programs,” Ms Smart said.
“Now we have the opportunity to pool resources, ideas and experiences.”
Other awards recognised on the evening included exceptional work in the fields of renewable energy, sustainable transport and community advocacy.
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