Brimbank council is on a mission to change its streetlights to energy-efficient LED technology.
The three-year project will cost $3.4 million and replace over 4000 lights.
A council officer report said the project is expected to save the council about $6 million over the next 20 years through reduced energy bills and maintenance charges.
It will deliver a substantial reduction in corporate greenhouse gas emissions, the report said.
The project will be broken up into two stages, with the first stage to take place over the 2019-20 and 2020-21 financial years.
It will deal with replacements in electricity distributor Powercor’s network area while stage two will occur in 2021-23 and is for replacements in the Jemena network distribution area.
The council will purchase 2028 lights and associated hardware required to complete the project, but installation of the lights will be procured via a separate agreement between the council and Powercor, which is expected to cost approximately $1.1 million.
At its May meeting, the council voted to award a contract valued at $1.01 million to Gerard Lighting Pty Ltd for the purchase of lights for stage one.
The report raised some concerns about the project, noting it has the potential to create real or perceived impacts to residents and businesses.
But it said that based on the council’s previous residential street lighting upgrade project, there are not expected to be many incidents.
The report said most incidents should be easily resolved through the installation of light guards and visors while existing guards and visors will be retained.
The report also noted there is a risk associated with the disposal of the current lights.
“The high-pressure sodium lights that will be replaced contain mercury and therefore need to be disposed of and/or recycled by specialist, licensed contractors,” the report said.
“This risk will be managed through the requirements of the installation contract with Powercor.”
