New Technology to Light Skate Park
Thursday 28 February –Hastings green space William Nelson Park will benefit from intelligent LED lightening, thanks to a
partnership between the Hastings District Council and Hawke’s Bay electricity distribution company Unison Networks.
The partnership will see Unison install innovative lighting technology as part of the Councils development of William
Nelson Park that will include 4000sqm of passive park green space and a 2000sqm skate facility for the Hastings
community.
Unison Group Chief Executive Ken Sutherland said the new lighting system would provide multiple benefits to park users,
rate payers, and the Council.
“The intelligent Phillips lighting solution enables customised control of lighting levels and includes automated fault
monitoring. This means lighting levels can be programmed to meet requirements at different times. For example, brighter
lighting will be provided during winter evenings for safe skating purposes, and lighting levels will then be dimmed
during later night hours to save energy while still maintaining public safety.”
The system features a fault diagnostics system that will identify and report any light outages, removing the requirement
for manual monitoring, or community reporting of lighting outages. The monitoring and control software provides a system
override function to enable lighting levels to be instantly increased in response to an emergency.
“LED lighting also provides a range of benefits including greater energy efficiency, a significantly longer bulb life
than conventional lighting technologies, and delivering a better quality of white light that renders rich colours with
contrast enabling safer night time activities such as skating, driving or pedestrian movement,” said Mr Sutherland.
Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule said Council was excited to partner with Unison and Philips to bring an innovative approach
to public lighting.
“This lighting project presents a fabulous opportunity, benefiting skate park users through the delivery of a tailored
lighting solution. The white lighting will bring colour to the city providing greater user enjoyment, increasing public
safety, ensuring increased energy efficiency and providing better lighting reliability.”
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