Council consults on plan to turn off half of all street lights to save cash (From Wiltshire Times)
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Council consults on plan to turn off half of all street lights to save cash
11:20am Tuesday 14th August 2012 in Latest News By Jill Crooks
Wiltshire Council is proposing to turn off half of the county’s street lights at night to save money.
The council switched off street lights at night at 10 locations, amounting to more than 1,300 street lights, last year and wants to expand it.
The county has more than 40,000 street lights and is proposing to switch off half of these at night (between midnight and 5.30am) plus dimming lighting at less busy times where appropriate.
In a small number of locations street lights might be turned off altogether.
The council is currently consulting on the proposals which are aimed at saving money and contribute to reducing its carbon footprint.
Peter Binley, head of highways asset management at Wiltshire Council, says in a report on Wiltshire Council’s website that most of the street lights which would be switched off at night would be on
minor residential roads, while main road lights could be dimmed for part of the night or turned off where appropriate.
He says: "From the initial investigations converting a majority of the street lights to operate for only part of the night and dimming others at off peak periods would appear to offer the best
savings in the longer term, with potentially little adverse impact on the public and communities.
"The proposals include the removal of lights at a number of locations where they would not be provided under current design standards and the introduction of LED and similar units on new lighting
schemes.
"The lighting at key locations, such as important junctions and traffic signals, would operate all night as necessary to ensure that road safety is not compromised."
A central computer management system would be installed to control the county’s street lights remotely.
Existing sites where street lights are turned off at night include the A4 between Corsham and Box and the A361 Hilperton Drive in Trowbridge.
The council’s energy budget for street lighting is more than £1.2 million. The capital cost of implementing the changes would be £1.8 million and the annual energy cost savings are estimated at
£300,000.
In a public consultation on the council’s budget in February this year savings from reduced street lighting scored the highest of the seven savings options.
The consultation on street lighting runs until September 30. To take part go to http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/street-lighting-changes-consultation.htm
The results of the consultation will be considered by the council’s Cabinet later this year and the switching off of lights would take place in 2013.
Comments(18)
sirroms
says...
12:09pm Tue 14 Aug 12
light pollution is a pain and whilst we are on a roll here how about office lighting in County Hall!!! you can go past that building anytime after dark and guarantee lighting to be left on and don't think for one minute its the clock watching staff working beyond there daily hours!
yoR
says...
2:05pm Tue 14 Aug 12
MrG
says...
5:46am Wed 15 Aug 12
redrum
says...
6:34am Wed 15 Aug 12
Marrytime
says...
8:40pm Wed 15 Aug 12
redrum wrote:If the lights were to be cut i would not be encouraged to be attacked.
Great idea, encourage people to be attacked at night. How much did the posh offices cost us?
Can't speak for the attackers though.
What are these offices of which you speak and why would they be posh?
Marrytime
says...
8:43pm Wed 15 Aug 12
MrG wrote:Do you have the details of this?
Saving money to spend more on the council offices
Marrytime
says...
8:53pm Wed 15 Aug 12
sirroms wrote:not sure what you meant by the staff comment but it did not sound complimentary. In fact it seemed to be an insult. As in the majority of professions, the staff indeed do not work beyond their daily hours apart from a few exceptions where overtime may be necessary.
I agree with MDP!
light pollution is a pain and whilst we are on a roll here how about office lighting in County Hall!!! you can go past that building anytime after dark and guarantee lighting to be left on and don't think for one minute its the clock watching staff working beyond there daily hours!
Cheeky Puck
says...
1:46am Thu 16 Aug 12
Marrytime wrote:Meh.
sirroms wrote:not sure what you meant by the staff comment but it did not sound complimentary. In fact it seemed to be an insult. As in the majority of professions, the staff indeed do not work beyond their daily hours apart from a few exceptions where overtime may be necessary.
I agree with MDP!
light pollution is a pain and whilst we are on a roll here how about office lighting in County Hall!!! you can go past that building anytime after dark and guarantee lighting to be left on and don't think for one minute its the clock watching staff working beyond there daily hours!
MrG
says...
7:01am Thu 16 Aug 12
Marrytime wrote:http://www.wiltshire
MrG wrote:Do you have the details of this?
Saving money to spend more on the council offices
times.co.uk/news/986
7000.New_library_and
_cafe_for_Trowbridge
/?action=success
'It opens on September 12, but staff will begin moving into the building from other council offices later this month, before the refurbishment of the rest of County Hall gets under way.'
sirroms
says...
8:34am Thu 16 Aug 12
Marrytime wrote:Meeeeeh!!!!!
sirroms wrote:not sure what you meant by the staff comment but it did not sound complimentary. In fact it seemed to be an insult. As in the majority of professions, the staff indeed do not work beyond their daily hours apart from a few exceptions where overtime may be necessary.
I agree with MDP!
light pollution is a pain and whilst we are on a roll here how about office lighting in County Hall!!! you can go past that building anytime after dark and guarantee lighting to be left on and don't think for one minute its the clock watching staff working beyond there daily hours!
Marrytime
says...
10:05am Thu 16 Aug 12
Thanks but I am aware of the library etc development. My request for details referred not to the development itself but to your statement that money saved on lights was to be spent on offices.
ASensibleBeing
says...
12:47pm Thu 16 Aug 12
yeold6x
says...
1:02am Fri 17 Aug 12
PeterZahut
says...
1:34pm Fri 17 Aug 12
...I never work overtime, and never will whilst i can get paid to do less work than needed.
PeterZahut
says...
1:45pm Fri 17 Aug 12
Bunty Hoven
says...
7:24pm Fri 17 Aug 12
yeold6x wrote:Why didn't you get one then? are you not clever enough or, more likely you thought you could make more money elsewhere and now you are complaining about others benefitting from their own foresight.
A senible being is spot on. Marrytime is either out of touch or more likely a civil servant or should that be Self servant? I would love a job where I could do 9-5 and then get a golden handshake after 18 months like the CE that went to Bath and NE Somerset.
Marrytime
says...
12:45am Sat 18 Aug 12
yeold6x wrote:i am not a civil servant (where did they come in) and neither am I a local government officer which is more to the point. what has the CE got to do with me?
A senible being is spot on. Marrytime is either out of touch or more likely a civil servant or should that be Self servant? I would love a job where I could do 9-5 and then get a golden handshake after 18 months like the CE that went to Bath and NE Somerset.
MDP says...
11:41am Tue 14 Aug 12