Mayor’s vision for large, colour LED screens at Colac entrances
August 23, 2018
Mayor Joe McCracken wants to activate the entrances to Colac with large, electronic screens promoting community groups, upcoming events and showcasing the city’s attractions to visitors.
Cr McCracken said the idea would set Colac apart from other towns, promote civic pride and potentially provide a template for other communities in Colac Otway Shire to follow.
He successfully moved a motion at last night’s meeting for officers to prepare a report into the viability, suitability and process of installing electronic welcome signs at the eastern and western entrances to Colac.
“Most people would say that there is plenty of work that could be done to improve our town entrances,” he said.
“Once works are completed on the eastern entrance, following completion of the highway duplication project, we’ll have a blank canvass and a great opportunity to consider how we’d like to present ourselves as a community.
“A large screen for each town entrance could be a game changer. We could promote local community groups and events and encourage visitors to experience all our great town has to offer. Nobody else has it and it would set us apart.”
Cr McCracken said his motion was designed to get the ball rolling, find out more and see if the idea was viable.
“What would the capital and recurrent costs be? Is there scope for cost recovery? Are there road safety concerns? How big would the screen need to be? Where should they be placed? We need to know more before we can decide if we want to commit,” he said.
“I’m picturing embedded, full colour LED screens that can display high quality images and graphics as well as messages so that there is lots of flexibility and they can be refreshed with new content often.
“We are an innovative, self-sufficient, forward thinking town and if we can differentiate ourselves from other townships, why wouldn’t we look seriously into that possibility?”
Cr McCracken said it was only an idea and could not be considered until officers completed their report.
“If there is a viable way forward we can integrate it into our relevant strategies and start the journey of advocating,” he said.
“This could be something that sets Colac apart from everyone else and could be a template for other small townships in our Shire and across the state.”
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