Northern Lights a finalist in 2015 Green Globe Awards
RDANI Acting Executive Officer David Thompson, Member for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall, Member for New England Barnaby Joyce and Armidale Dumaresq Mayor Laurie Bishop discuss the new LED street lights.
14 September 2015
Regional Development Australia Northern Inland’s Northern Lights project has been selected as one of 43 finalists, in the Community Sustainability category, in this year’s prestigious Green Globe Awards.
“The Green Globe Awards are known as the most prestigious environmental awards in NSW. We are honoured and proud that our Northern Lights project is being recognised as a finalist,” Regional Development Australia Northern Inland (RDANI) Acting Executive Officer David Thompson said.
The Northern Lights project has been a big energy efficiency light-bulb moment for seven Northern Inland NSW councils. Facilitated by RDANI, the project has Essential Energy upgrading street lighting to the latest LED technology in Armidale Dumaresq, Guyra, Glen Innes Severn, Tenterfield, Inverell, Gwydir and Walcha Shire Local Government Areas. The installation recently got underway and it is hoped that it will be completed by the end of 2015.
Developed and administered by RDANI, the Northern Lights project received $576,000 of funding from the Australian Government. The project will replace around 5,000 mercury vapour, metal halide and compact fluorescent street lights with the latest LED technology, collectively saving 1,000 MW hours of energy and in excess of $200,000 per annum in electricity costs. These suburban street lights will not only use dramatically less power, they will also require less maintenance.
The Northern Lights project also involves an Energy Efficiency Education Officer for the region’s businesses and households, and in-house development of interactive energy efficiency education resources. “The Northern Lights project is delivering the biggest regional LED street lighting program in Australia to date. It is a huge sustainability win, resulting from collaboration,” Mr Thompson said.
The awards, now in their 16th year, celebrate innovative environmental achievements and resource-saving measures from businesses, government and community groups across NSW. The 2015 award finalists, across 16 award categories, range from industry-experts, famous iconic Sydney buildings, small community groups and global brands. Their projects cover innovation, leadership, resource efficiency, sustainability and wildlife and habitat restoration.
Finalists were chosen by an independent panel of leading environmental experts in the fields of energy, water, waste, sustainability and environmental research and academia. Robin Mellon, Green Globe Award Judging Panel Chair describes the high calibre of this year’s nominations.
"It’s remarkable to see the sustained effort from not only NSW's largest corporates but also councils, small and medium businesses and community groups in the Green Globe Award nominations this year. Nominees are now addressing sustainability across more areas of their business than ever before, with many looking at long-term visions, social and shared value, and holistic initiatives, rather than simply their short-term goals,” said Mr Mellon.
The winners will be announced at the Green Globe Awards Ceremony on Thursday, 15 October at the Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney. The Premier’s Award for Environmental Excellence, the best-of-the-best, will be announced at the event.
To read a summary of all 43 finalists visit www.environment.nsw.gov.au/greenglobes
This activity received funding from the Australian Government. The views expressed herein are not necessarily the view of the Commonwealth of Australia, and the Commonwealth does not accept responsibility for any information or advice contained herein.
New LED Street Lights on the way for the Northern Inland
One of the new LED street lights being installed in Armidale
11 May 2015
Seven Northern Inland councils have now accepted offers from Essential Energy to upgrade their street lighting to the latest LED technology under Regional Development Australia’s Northern Lights Project. The lights will be progressively rolled out in the second half of this year across Armidale Dumaresq, Guyra, Glen Innes Severn, Tenterfield, Inverell, Gwydir and Walcha Shire Local Government Areas.
Developed and administered by RDANI, the Northern Lights project received $576,000 of funding from the Australian Government to assist councils with the capital cost of the new lights.
The project, – the first broad scale rollout of LED technology in regional NSW, is also a trial by Essential Energy of two models of LED streetlights to compare reliability and performance. The number of lights to be replaced has been increased from the originally proposed 4,700 to over 5,000 which further improves the return on the funding to the Australian Government. The NSW Office of Environment and Heritage also provided funding for the services of a lighting expert to assist in project development.
LED street lights consume far less energy at around 24 watts each, and will replace existing high-energy lights consuming between 50 and 100 watts. At current street light energy costs, this will save the seven Councils in excess of $200,000 per year and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by more than 1,000 tonnes per year of CO2 equivalents.
RDANI Chair Russell Stewart noted that the work done by his organisation is exactly the type of collaborative project that Regional Development Australia Committees should be brokering. “This was a complex project requiring lengthy negotiations with Essential Energy to bring the new technology to our region, as well as coordinating Commonwealth, State and seven local government agencies” he said. “As a result, towns in our region will soon be on par with the likes of Sydney, Melbourne, Los Angeles, Seattle and London in adopting the latest lighting developments”.
Federal Member for New England Barnaby Joyce said the project was a good example of the synergies which are possible between the various levels of government, and that nurturing this type of collaboration was precisely the role which the Australian Government had envisaged for Regional Development Australia Committees. “Not only will this project save councils money which they can redirect to other services, this is also another example of regional Australia embracing new technology for the greater good”.
Installation of the new lights is set to commence in July 2015. RDANI will conduct a letterbox drop of residents in June informing them about the project and the upgrades.
