Lake Wendouree trial lights: Ballarat Heritage Watch oppose full number

Temporary trial lights installed at Lake Wendouree have been branded “overkill” by a community group ahead of a $2.5m plan to place 220 of them around “the jewel in Ballarat’s crown”.

Temporary trial lights installed at Lake Wendouree have been branded “overkill” by Ballarat Heritage Watch.

The two lights set up at the end of last year have been placed near the Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, before community feedback on the installation of the $2.5 million 220 lights around the Steve Moneghetti Track closes at the end of February.

Vice president Stuart Kelly said the heritage group was opposed to the “overdevelopment” of the lake and the number of “excessively bright” lights that will be positioned.

“One of the beauties of the lake is walking around there in the evening as it’s getting dark and seeing the lights of the city, the moon and the clouds being reflected in the surface of the lake,” he said.

“If we put an enormous number of very bright lights on the path … people won’t be able to see out the bright area of the path.

“The council have always called the lake the jewel in Ballarat’s crown and what we’re doing to it is covering it all in tinsel, loving it to death basically.”

Mr Kelly said his organisation also held concerns about the impact the lighting would have on wildlife.

“There are some sections of the path around the lake which are a bit dark and which could be lit up … but not the entire area,” he said.

“The trial lights shine some 20 metres away from the path, whereas if you’re wanting to stop people tripping, even bollard style lights would be sufficient and the spread of lights from that would be a lot less.

“There’s no cost-benefit analysis of how people would use it when it’s lit … of this quite expensive project.”

In a Lake Wendouree Lighting Project Q&A, City of Ballarat Program Director Strategy and Implementation Amy Boyd said the heritage of the lake was being “respected”.

Wendouree State MP Juliana Addison said the government was working with the council to ensure community consultation had taken place.

“The new lighting system at Lake Wendouree will improve safety and enable expanded access to this popular community recreation track,” she said.

“The City of Ballarat engaged ecological and heritage consultants Biosis to undertake an independent Biodiversity Impact Assessment of the area to ensure that local wildlife are protected.”

You can give your feedback here until the end of February.