Central Coast Council has received state-wide recognition for two outstanding achievements in helping to manage and protect the environment at the LGNSW Excellence in the Environment Awards 2023.

Council was awarded the top prize in the category of Innovation in Planning, Policies and Decision Making for its geospatially based Environment Assessment Traffic Light Tool.

Council’s partnership with Southern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (SSROC) in the Street Lighting Improvement Program was also named as a finalist in the category of Sustainable Infrastructure.

Council’s Director of Environment and Planning, Alice Howe said these awards provide state-wide recognition for best practice in managing and protecting the environment. 

“Council's Information Services and Environment sections worked together to develop the Environment Assessment Traffic Light Tool, which is a mapping platform that can be used in environmental assessments and field work to identify environmental risks where works are to be undertaken,” Dr Howe said. 

“This is a fantastic achievement for all staff involved on this project and highlights how we are shaping the future, rewriting the narrative and creating something bigger than each of us.” 

Council’s Director of Infrastructure Services, Boris Bolgoff said we have been working with SSROC and Ausgrid for several years in developing and implementing improved street lighting for the Central Coast region.  

“The first program of works saw around 10,000 residential street lights upgraded to 17-watt LED efficient lights, which are providing more effective lighting, reducing light pollution in the night sky, lower greenhouse gas emissions and cost savings in maintenance and energy charges”, Mr Bolgoff said.  

“The current program of works is seeing to replace over 5,000 main road street lights with energy efficient LED lights.  In addition the main road street lighting infrastructure is smart control enabled so that in the future we can obtain further efficiency gains with initiatives such as street light dimming; traffic modelling; maintenance reporting and analysis; and environmental data; to name a few.”    

Council Administrator, Rik Hart said Council’s recognition within these Awards as a top local government empowering innovation and change, shows we are taking the necessary steps needed to do what is best for the community and our environment. 

“Council’s commitment locally to the deployment of LED energy efficient street lighting in conjunction with Ausgrid and SSROC is one of the largest LED deployments in the world that will improve road safety and provide substantial cost and energy savings for the Central Coast,” Mr Hart said.  

“I’m pleased that Central Coast Council is bringing new ideas to the table, challenging norms and delivering services that create a bright, liveable and sustainable lifestyle for Central Coast residents.”