The equipment is being installed at various locations across Mitchell Shire with the first items going in around the Hadfield Park precinct in Wallan late last year.
The equipment will contribute to a wider northern Melbourne network covering Mitchell, Whittlesea, Nillumbik, Moreland and Banyule.
The network will use anonymous data to help track the number of people using selected public areas and facilities, usage trends, air quality and environmental factors, water levels at key locations and the volume of waste in public bins.
In some cases, the technology can be used to track the location of public equipment and assets.
In Hadfield Park, information will include how many people are using the area, when they are using the area, bin sensors and air quality monitoring.
Other sensors will be rolled out next year including anonymous people counters at Kilmore Hospital and Monument Hill Reserve, Colin Officer Reserve in Broadford, Bushland Reserve in Seymour and public toilets in Kilmore and Seymour.
To add to flood level data collected by other agencies, water level sensors will also be installed at Sunday Creek in Broadford and near the Goulburn Valley Hwy in Seymour.
The project is funded through the Australian Government’s Smart Cities and Suburbs Program and is being delivered in partnership between LaTrobe University, RMIT University, Banyule City Council, Mitchell Shire Council, Moreland City Council, Nillumbik Shire Council and City of Whittlesea.
Mitchell Shire Mayor David Lowe said council was very excited to be selected to be part of the pilot project.
“At the moment, council staff will just be looking at the data to identify ways to make improvements to council services in the future,” he said.
“Longer term, there is potential for all sorts of uses including real-time monitoring to understand how people move through an area in order to provide a better service and contributing to a wider network of information that can help with things like thunderstorm asthma warnings.”
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