At the end of Monday night’s Q&A with Greens MPs Jeremy Buckingham and Adam Bandt on transitioning to renewables, Mayor Stephen Lesslie jumped up on stage to share his own announcement.
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“It makes me very proud to be the Mayor of Lithgow when people ask intelligent questions. It’s been very helpful for me too, I’ve been listening very carefully to work out just how Lithgow can move into the future.”
“Ten years ago ‘after coal’ would never have been heard in Lithgow but now we are talking about it, we are aware that we have to do this. We are aware that we have to move on.”
“Even Lithgow Council is going to put solar panels on top of it!”
Mr Lesslie confirmed after the meeting, which took place at the Lithgow Workies on July 31, that his solar announcement was serious.
“Well, I’m pushing for it. Yes we will,” he said.
“It’s about cost efficiency for Lithgow Council. The good thing about having them on the council roof is that all the council work is done during the day. So we get the full saving.
“If the council also sends a message with the panels then that’s a good thing.”
![SUN POWER: Thomas Ebersoll [centre] of the Lithgow Envrionment Group announced their new campaign to encourage commercial businesses in Lithgow to adopt solar power at Monday's meeting.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/6sjfUUqKyXQMzVf2tWkEZy/e9f2a006-8604-4710-93df-1358026e8a7f.JPG/r0_241_4928_3264_w576_h298_fmax.webp "SUN POWER: Thomas Ebersoll [centre] of the Lithgow Envrionment Group announced their new campaign to encourage commercial businesses in Lithgow to adopt solar power at Monday's meeting.")
Mr Lesslie said he supported the growth of renewable energy production in Lithgow.
“Yes I do. But it has to be in association with he current power industries and the energy we have available to replace as needed. We can’t just turn the lights off, I think that’s clear. We have to respect the families who have been keeping the lights on for generations,” he said.
“We’ve got so much infrastructure in place already. We‘ve got the transmission lines. And they’re very expensive, they’re cut across the bushland to Sydney, once you’ve got those you’s got to use them. Lithgow might not be the perfect spot to establish renewable energy, but once you factor in the cost savings, it could be a very good spot for us.”
Mr Lesslie said state and federal government needed to engage with coal towns to ensure that change occurred fairly.
“I do have concerns that while Mark Butler [Labor shadow minister for Climate Change and Energy] and Adam have directly contacted us, there has been no contact from the state and federal ministers. They should be talking to us about what is happening in our community and working out where the possibilities are together.
“The government needs to make decisions and take responsibility for them. That’s their job.”
