Lake Wendouree and Victoria Park Link Lighting project meets environmental obligations

The City of Ballarat has and will continue to meet all environmental obligations and requirements with the delivery of the Lake Wendouree and Victoria Park Link Lighting project. 

Despite reports, the City of Ballarat was not required to seek approval from the Federal Environment Minister to progress this project under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. 

The National Threatened Species Commissioner has not been in contact and has not raised any concerns with the City of Ballarat. 

While the Get The Lake Lights Right Group has raised concern regarding protection of the Australasian Bittern water bird, data from the Victorian Biodiversity Atlas indicates that there has been one recorded sighting of the Australian Bittern in the Ballarat municipality which took place in 2019.  

The Australasian Bittern was included in the independent Biodiversity Impact Assessment conducted by external independent ecologist, Biosis, which found the species is not regular or resident within the area. 

Page four of the report states: ‘Australian Painted Snipe, Australasian Bittern, Eastern Curlew and Curlew Sandpiper are all water bird species which could potentially occur within Lake Wendouree on occasion, but none of these species are regular or resident within the area. These species are not likely to be impacted by the lighting project’.  

The report is available online to view at ballarat.vic.gov.au/lakelighting. 

“Under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, a referral is only required where actions are found to have a ‘significant impact’ on matters of national environment significance, which is not the case in this instance,” City of Ballarat Director Infrastructure and Environment, Bridget Wetherall said.  

“The group also raised concern that the Cultural Heritage Management Plan only approved 150 lights. This is not correct.  

“The City of Ballarat and a Cultural Heritage Advisor met with the Wadawurrung in 2021 on multiple occasions and undertook the process of amending the Cultural Heritage Management Plan to reflect the updated scope and methodology of the project including the complete number of 225 lights at a height of 5.5m. This was approved in October 2021.” 

In regard to concerns raised about tree protection, Ms Wetherall said the lake lighting project required an independent arborist report and also an Arboricultural review as part of the Planning Permit process and the Heritage Victoria Permit process.  

As a result, the contractor will use under-ground boring to a depth of 1000mm to minimise any impacts to trees. 

“The Arboriculture Impact and Assessment report, which was conducted by independent arborists, ArborSafe, on page 16 states ‘all four hundred subject trees have the potential to be impacted upon by the proposed works’. The report mentions this in the context of ensuring that the right construction processes are followed – the report does not find that the 400 trees will be negatively impacted by the installation,” Ms Wetherall said. 

“The project’s detailed design, including pole locations, has been informed by a feature survey of the Lake Wendouree foreshore. 

“The pole locations outlined on the approved construction documentation will be confirmed on-site with the Project Arborist and contractor. The final pole locations will be coordinated with the design documents and will take into account Tree Protection Zones. 

“Should any significant changes to the design be required, the City of Ballarat will notify Heritage Victoria as per the requirements of their issued permits for the project. Changes of a significant nature are not currently envisaged.” 

As outlined in Goal 1 of the Council Plan 2021-2025, the City of Ballarat is committed to environmental sustainability. The health of our natural environment is vital to our community and our biodiversity must be retained and enhanced. 

The Lake Wendouree and Victoria Park Link Lighting project is a significant project for our community. The $3,170,000 project is jointly funded by the State Government ($2,500,000) and the City of Ballarat ($670,000). 

Construction works will now begin in early February 2023 after wet site conditions and record spring rainfall restricted access for machinery. 

Mapping of final pole locations and services will begin mid-January 2023. As part of this work, the contractor, design engineers and project arborist will confirm pole locations and other requirements under the Construction and Tree Management Plan, including the identification and set out of Tree Protection Zones and Structural Root Zones. 

Cultural Heritage Inductions and Arboriculture Inductions will also take place with contractors as per the Cultural Heritage Management Plan and Heritage Victoria Permit requirements. 

The works remain on schedule to be completed in the first half of 2023.