Funding helps light the streets of Ōpōtiki

Through generous funding from Trust Horizon, Ōpōtiki streets will be better lit with CCTV installed around the new skate facilities, and Ōpōtiki District Council will roll out additional LED lighting in town.

Two separate projects had benefited from recent funding announcements from Trust Horizon: in-fill LED lighting and CCTV and lighting at the new and upgraded skate park on Potts Ave.

The first project benefitting from Trust Horizon funding is $100,000 grant for lighting and CCTV to be installed in new and upgraded skatepark and the entrance to the Motu trails. Council’s Planning and Regulatory Group Manager, Gerard McCormack said that the addition of lighting, CCTV and BBQ’s would make the area even more attractive for the community.

“The newly constructed skatepark and pump track sections and the improvements to the existing skatepark have made the facility almost unrecognisable – we will have one of the best skateparks in New Zealand and certainly one Ōpōtiki can be proud to call our own and invite visitors to come and see it for themselves.

“The carpark alongside the reserve is currently under construction and will have additional facilities including barbeques, seating, a shelter with information panels and toilet facilities.

“We’re also building a larger and more central space for the entrance to our iconic cycleways, closer to facilities and with plenty more parking and gathering areas.

“This grant from Trust Horizon will allow us to ensure the lighting and CCTV cameras on the site keep the place looking its best. We’ll be adding the $60,000 council contribution as well and that will allow us to include many of the facilities that the community requested like barbeques and extra seating. This space will be a real community asset for many years to come,” Mr McCormack said.

The council will also be adding more lighting in residential areas with funding from Trust Horizon.

Council’s Engineering and Services Group Manager, Stace Lewer, said that the lighting would be rolled out over the coming months in Ōpōtiki township, filling in gaps between lights that had become apparent since the initial installation in 2018.

“Several years ago, Ōpōtiki was able to switch to LED street lighting as part of a national roll-out that saw 85% of the costs covered by a Waka Kotahi subsidy and the remainder by generous funding from Trust Horizon [called Eastern Bay Energy Trust at the time],” Mr Lewer said.

As the LED lights were installed, it became increasingly clear that there were advantages and disadvantages of the new lighting. The LED [light-emitting diode] lights have a number of advantages over the older style high pressure sodium lights – they last longer and have lower maintenance and power costs. They also reduce light pollution because there is less ‘light spill’.

However, because LED lights are much more targeted to reduce light pollution, it meant there were darker spaces in between existing poles. New poles would need to be installed and council has been adding these poles in key locations over the last few years.

“Council has identified where infill lighting is needed and the $65,000 from Trust Horizon will allow us to fill those gaps over the coming 6-12 months.

“We are aware also of several issues with lights not working in some areas, and this funding will allow us to fast-track repairs and ensure we have a stock of replacement parts which will allow us to get to current and future maintenance needs more promptly,” Mr Lewer said.