City’s solar sense for self-sufficiency

A solar farm could power Bunbury’s street lights and buildings under an ambitious Bunbury City Council plan announced yesterday.

The council has started negotiations to buy a block of land in Picton for its new depot site, knocking back several offers to lease a property for the venture.

Mayor Gary Brennan has revealed to theSouth Western Times the 5ha block could include a solar farm, which would power the entire depot and the city’s street lights.

“There is a lot of work to be done, but a solar farm is a possibility,” Mr Brennan said.

The block of land at Sutherland Way in Picton would replace the existing depot at Nuytsia Avenue and combine the council’s waste site at McCombe Road, according to Mr Brennan.

Mr Brennan said the farm would be a significant move for Bunbury and a step in the right direction to becoming “self-sufficient”.

“We already have some solar powered schemes in place at the South West Sports Centre,” he said.

“It’s an area we’ve been getting into and one we will get into more.”

Solar power is used to heat water at the sports centre and was introduced to help reduce expenditure on gas usage.

The council also uses solar lighting at a number of locations along Ocean Drive and the Parade Road cycle path.

Chief executive officer Andrew Brien will prepare a business plan for the council which will provide the “science” behind the idea, according to Mr Brennan.

He said council officers had estimated the new depot could be complete in 18 months.

Mr Brien toldSouth Western Times he was aware of several other local governments looking into solar power opportunities.

“Many of these are site specific or smaller scale, although there are a number of projects which are of larger scale,” Mr Brien said.

“The city will be discussing the process and outcomes achieved by these other local governments.”