Member for Northern Victoria Jaclyn Symes announced that 28 new lights will be installed along key footpaths and tracks that link the Botanic Gardens, Lake Benalla, the library, skatepark and CBD.
“The Botanical Gardens are a popular route from Benalla West to the CBD for students at the secondary school, as well as for walkers and joggers,” Ms Symes said.
“The project will ensure that all members of the community can feel safe to move across the town at night, and make better use of our fantastic public spaces.”
The ‘Lighting the Lake’ project will encourage shared use of the space, with Benalla Rural City Council to consult locals to help drive community-led responses such as public art, barbecues, tables and other ideas to help activate the space.
The upgrade includes the installation of seven LED colour-changing flood lights surrounding the library which will be completed by July 2023.
This will allow the council to light the library in a variety of colours for events and to raise awareness of various causes.
The new lighting will compliment LED lighting recently installed by Benalla Rural City Council along parts of the Lake Benalla walking track.
“We’ve installed seven LED lights along the Jaycee Island (section) of the walking track,” Benalla Mayor Bernie Hearn said.
“The new lights will create a safer place for people to exercise, walk their dogs and enjoy (our) beautiful lake walk.
“These lights are the same as the ones already installed at the Benalla Splash Park.
“This is part of (our) commitment to create a safer Benalla for everyone to enjoy.”
Minister for Crime Prevention Anthony Carbines said the Victorian Government was investing more than $286,000 in the project as part of its crime prevention Creating Safer Places Fund to reduce vandalism and antisocial behaviour.
“We’re creating a better and safer connection between key public places in Benalla through this community driven project,” Mr Carbines said
“The Creating Safer Places fund ensures that local residents can feel safe and protected within their community and helps boost the number of visitors using public places.”
Part of the Building Safer Communities program, the Creating Safe Places fund offers Victorian councils grants of between $25,000 and $300,000 over two years to undertake urban and environmental design projects that aim to deter crime and increase public safety.
The program is a cornerstone of the government’s Crime Prevention Strategy, which sets out a long-term approach to addressing the root causes of crime and building safer communities across Victoria — with more than $19.4 million provided to the program since 2021.
Including recent investment through the Victorian Budget 2022-23, more than $90 million has been invested in crime prevention since 2015 — supporting more than 910 projects across the state.
