Mornington Shire Council says it is feeling abandoned after being left in the dark by energy giant Ergon Energy.
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The Council said in a statement Monday that the island community has been without lighting in most streets since many were extinguished by a lightning strike in February 2017 and this has an enormous impact on community safety and well-being.
Mayor Bradley Wilson said Ergon refused to schedule works in remote communities without receiving payment up front which meant that under current scheduling Ergon will have had over $120,000 of their money for over six months before work even starts.
“In the meantime we have our entire population at risk because to see at night drivers have to use high beam often blinding other drivers, residents have to walk with torches and police and emergency services have to operate in the dark,” Cr Wilson said.
“Its unacceptable that this issue has not been made a priority, this wouldn’t happen on the mainland so why should our residents have to endure this for so long – we have followed the correct process and gone through the right channels but it doesn’t seem to get us anywhere, this is a huge issue for our community and it can not continue”.
Ergon Energy told the North West Star it has offered to expedite work on a number of damaged streetlights on Mornington Island after discussions with the Council.
“Ergon has been investigating options to help remote communities like Mornington Island manage street lighting, which is owned by the Council and maintained by Ergon,” the company said in a statement.
“A trial of LED lighting has shown it is a longer life, lower maintenance and more cost-effective option for remote communities. As a result, some of the damaged streetlights on Mornington Island will be replaced with more robust LEDs.”
Ergon said field crews were scheduled to travel to Mornington Island early next month to begin inspecting, maintaining, repairing and replacing the Council’s streetlights.
“Where possible, Ergon Energy will incorporate maintenance requests into its scheduled program of work in remote communities to support efficient delivery of work and managing costs for our customers,” the company said.
“Ergon Energy negotiates payments for projects based upon scale and customer type (and) uses any initial payments to undertake work on the design and any special material procurement.”