Fired by Passion
Councillor calls for Windsor’s heritage lamps to run on gas as the clock ticks…Passion
Hawkesbury City Councillor Shane Djuric is a man on a mission to protect and enhance the Hawkesbury’s heritage, so much so he’s just been – at his own expense – to Port Pirie, in South Australia, for a special event – the relighting of that town’s restored gas lamps.
It was a timely visit because while some Hawkesbury councillors and business folks too want to see Windsor’s historic street Mall lamps once again running on gas, the multi-million dollar Liveability project – which in part will see a revitalisation of Windsor town centre and surrounds – may lead to the lamps running on decidedly unromantic non-heritage LED lights.
Councillor Djuric was invited by David Holden, Manager of Australian Gas Networks (SA), to attend the launch of the Port Pirie Winter Festival on the evening of Friday 5 August where the town relit eight restored gas lights.
Work on the seven gas lights mounted on posts, and one on the front wall of the Port Pirie museum, was inspired by the passion of members of the local community to save their area’s heritage gas lights.
Meanwhile, in Windsor, there are some councillors and council staff who want to see our historic lamps run on LED lights – not least because they believe it will take the Council closer to the net zero emissions they have promised ratepayers.
The plan is for the Windsor gas lamps – which are not running on gas now, but are still connected underground – to be kept but moved to the sides of the Mall.
Cllr Djuric says moving the underground gas pipes too would not be much of an issue given the Mall is going to see some fairly major rejuvenation running into millions of dollars.
“I went to Port Pirie to try and gain some knowledge to hopefully inspire some of my fellow chamber members to support the appropriate restoration of our gas lamps, in line with community sentiment,” Cllr Djuric told the Post.
Cllr Djuric says he doesn’t think it is a major job – in the great scheme of the planned rejuvenation – to re-lay the gas pipes.
“Being on the cusp of pure green hydrogen gas, I think to then put LEDs in our lamps, it’s just vandalising those lamps.
He says we need to embrace our history, and Windsor’s gas lamps are a big part of that.
“Windsor is so important, so significant in regards to the beginning of the modern Australia, surely the Council should be embracing this at every turn.”
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