Plans for new lighting on Wirrabarra Walk have been quietly expanded, further aggravating some home owners. Work is due to begin within weeks.
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The initial designs comprised 75 globes along the strip. Now, 115 lights are set to be installed. Solar panels will also be forgone for conventional power.
Changes were revealed in an Orange City Council letter delivered to nearby homes last week.
Glenda Hodge - whose house backs directly onto the path - is unhappy with the last-minute expansion.
"Wirrabarra Walk is a beautiful, pristine landscape," she told the Central Western Daily this week.
"Councillors and the public were assured ... research had been done and that timing of solar lights was possible.
"After the awful mess and cost over-runs that occurred with the Lords Place makeover I fear that Wirrabarra Walk will be a catastrophe ... costly, ugly and dangerous."
The path runs about 750-metres between Forbes Road and Coronation Drive, along the western boundary of Duntryleague. Twenty-four homes back directly onto the path.
A proposal for night lighting has consistently raised concern among nearby residents, who argue the installation would make the area less safe, compromise privacy and damage aesthetic appeal.
Orange City Council told the CWD this week plans have been modified to minimise these fears.
"As staff explored the details of installing the new pedestrian lighting along Wirrabarra Walk, a number of changes from the original design became necessary," a spokesperson said in part.
"The most sensible option was to install more bollards which produce less light, 115 bollard-mounted lights will be installed instead of the original plan for 75.
"The underground cabling to connect the lights will be installed by professional technicians. No trees will be removed. The amount of cabling is the same no matter the number of lights installed."
Installation was initially planned in late-2023. It is now scheduled to begin mid-April this year, with work expected to take between two and three weeks.
A YourSay survey put together by council found the lighting installation was extremely unpopular with nearby residents, but supported by the wider community.
Some home owners argued the poll was unfairly "loaded," asking the question: "Do you support the proposal to install better lighting along Wirrabarra Walk to improve public safety in the area?"