Keeping tabs on temperature changes

MEDIA RELEASE 5 July 2023

Bathurst Regional Council is keen to see what’s happening with temperature changes in our CBD and has installed 100 temperature sensors into selected street lights across the central part of Bathurst.

Director Environmental Planning & Building Services Neil Southorn said the project is an extension of the wider street lighting upgrade to LED lighting.

“In 2019 Council partnered with Essential Energy to roll out LED street lighting, delivering improved streetlight quality across the city and villages and reducing Council’s spend on streetlighting by almost 60 percent.

“The new lighting also allows Council to utilise the street lights for the installation of technology like temperature sensors.

“Streetlights are a good place to put the sensors as they are located in a convenient pattern and allow the sensor to connect to a power supply through a port in the streetlight.

“The sensors will measure temperature at these locations to create a picture of how temperature varies across the CBD. This information will help Council to design a ‘Cooling the City Strategy’, which could propose actions such as future tree planting, artificial shade structures, misting techniques and the like to protect residents and visitors from temperature extremes as the climate continues to warm,” Mr Southorn said.