First streetlights set for switch-off
Involving around 30 lights, the move signals the start of the County Council’s plans to slash £700,000 from its £3million street lighting power bills and reduce carbon emissions by 3,000 tonnes.
Overall, the council is aiming to:
- Dim around 2,000 roadside lights on main routes, between 7pm and 7am
- Switch off around 1,000 lights in rural areas or where they are not near houses
- Switch off up to 40,000 streetlights between midnight and 5.30am, starting with Quorn, Thurlaston, Dunton Bassett, Swannington, Smeeton Westerby, Lubenham and Croft
During June, a part-night switch off is due to be launched in the seven villages, starting with Smeeton Westerby, and lights will be turned off at another 16 other sites in south Leicestershire. Signs will be put up at all the sites in advance of any work to inform people of the changes.
This week, it was agreed that lamps will be turned off at 18 locations in the north of the county, with the first being deactivated next month. The emergency services have not objected to the idea in principle and are being consulted on every scheme.
Mike Preston, Cabinet member for environment and climate action, said: “It makes sense to dim lights beside main roads and switch off other ones that are not needed. This shouldn’t be noticeable and it will help to cut energy costs and reduce pollution. “We do recognise there may be public concerns about switching off street lights late at night however other councils, like Gloucestershire and Essex, have adopted this approach and found that it has not led to increased crime. “Just by making these simple changes, we can cut annual carbon emissions by 3,000 tonnes – that’s got to be worthwhile.”
The scheme will contribute four per cent of the Council’s proposed 30 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2014.
Other councils which have made street lighting changes include Leicester (dimming of lights on main routes), Gloucestershire (dimming and part-night lighting) and Buckinghamshire (switching lights off).