Councils in Victoria have presented the Premier and Opposition Leader with community petitions in support of energy efficient street lighting upgrades.

The petitions were delivered by the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) ahead of the Premier’s Local Government Climate Change Summit on Friday.

MAV president Bill McArthur said more than 3500 people signed the online petition and more than 1000 Facebook supporters joined the campaign.

“Led by the MAV and the City of Maribyrnong, 46 councils have participated in the Give Our Streets the Green Light campaign and promoted it within their communities to encourage the Federal and State Governments to partner with local councils to fund the $114 million upgrade costs,” Cr McArthur said.

“A combined Federal-State  contribution of $45 million over four years would ensure councils could change around 330,00 local road street lights from 80W mercury vapour lamps to energy efficient technology at low cost and in the shortest possible timeframe.”

Cr McArthur said replacing old street lamps with energy efficient lighting would reduce local government’s annual greenhouse gas emissions by 78,000 tonnes and achieve a $9.5 million energy cost saving each year.