City of Ballarat meeting concludes Lake Wendouree lighting saga

The question whether Lake Wendouree should get new lighting, and in what form, came to a close at the most recent Ballarat council meeting.

Lake Wendouree at sunset. Photo: Timothy Cox

The question whether Lake Wendouree should be encompassed by new lighting, and in what form, came to a close at the City of Ballarat’s most recent council meeting.

In February, the council awarded DeAreago & Lea Electrical Contractors a $2.2 million contract for the fixing of 225 light poles along the 6km Steve Moneghetti Track.

Six councillors voted in favour of the contract; three voted against it.

At a March 23 council meeting, Cr Samantha McIntosh introduced a motion for the rescinding of that contract in a final effort to keep alternatives on the table, but the motion was defeated.

The lighting project was first made a priority in 2017 within the Lake Wendouree Masterplan.

A council survey at the time garnered more than 1800 responses, 81.7 per cent of which supported the project and 8.8 per cent of which were neutral.

Online consultation in 2020 collected 150 responses, with 45 per cent supportive, 46 per cent unsupportive, and 9 per cent unknown.

The council’s February 23, 2022 meeting agenda said “key themes” of the responses were “the lighting being needed and overdue, increasing hours of use benefit and increasing safety and access, impacts to the natural environment, the cost and design of the poles and fittings”.

A trial light pole on the track around Lake Wendouree in Ballarat. Photo: Timothy Cox

A further 64 submissions were received when trial lights were installed in December 2020.

Those, said the agenda, generally concerned “the operable times of the lights, their height and colour, and the impact of the lighting on wildlife and fauna”.

Residents opposed to the current plan think the popular path’s beauty and wildlife would be tarnished by excessive lighting.

The LED lights are meant to encourage greater use of the track: they would turn on at 5.30am and switch off at 10pm each day, subject to daily conditions.

The State Government is funding the project.