$7.8m lighting project for Western Sydney councils

Nine Western Sydney municipal councils will be replacing 13,000 street lights with energy-efficient lights under a $7.8 million street lighting project. The councils are expected to share cost savings totalling over $1 million a year.

The project, launched by Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry and Science Karen Andrews, has been supported by a $5.2 million Australian Government grant.

“There’s no better time to do this given that energy costs are a major issue for many Australian organisations, businesses and households - and a priority area for the Australian Government’s energy reform agenda,” said Andrews.

Andrews said the project was designed to help reduce cost pressures on the Western Sydney councils, which were coping with population growth rates among Australia’s highest in recent years.

The new energy-efficient lights are expected to result in savings of $21 million and cut carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 70,000 tonnes over 20 years.

“I congratulate the nine councils - Blue Mountains, Blacktown, Fairfield, Hawkesbury, The Hills Shire, Holroyd, Liverpool, Parramatta and Penrith - on taking the initiative to cut their costs because not only do these technologies reduce emissions, but they have much longer life cycles and are relatively low maintenance,” Andrews said.

“I am aware that other communities within Greater Sydney are also benefiting from similar projects using over $15 million in funding from government energy-efficiency programs.”