Shropshire presses on with street lights switch-off plans
Thursday 16th September 2010, 10:43AM BST.
STREET LIGHTS could be switched off in towns across Shropshire next year after controversial plans were approved to push ahead with the proposals.
The move, along with other measures to cut street lighting, could potentially save Shropshire Council £240,000 a year.
It will also help the council to achieve a tough carbon reduction target.
Members of the council’s cabinet agreed that Ellesmere, Church Stretton and Cleobury Mortimer town councils be consulted over what is known as “part-night switching” with a view to introducing pilot schemes.
This will involve switching street lights off between midnight and 6am, and the trial, if it goes ahead, is likely to last 12 months. If successful it could be rolled out to other towns.
Councillors also backed the idea of introducing “variable lighting levels” on main roads, which means lights would be dimmed slightly to suit traffic levels.
Some “unnecessary” street lighting columns might also be removed.
Ann Hartley, cabinet member for energy and carbon reduction, said she was finding “lots of public support” for switching off street lights, although some concerns had also been voiced.
She said such action would not be taken suddenly and the authority would be working closely with town and parish councils.
“There is no way that we want to compromise public safety,” added Councillor Hartley.
She said that dimming lights “marginally” on main routes could deliver “big savings”.
Where this had taken place in other parts of the country, the reduction had not been noticed by the public, she added.
Shropshire Council has more than 19,000 street lights, illuminated signs and bollards, for which the energy costs this year will be £692,000.
At the first of a series of public meetings in Shropshire this week to discuss spending cuts, there was strong support for switching off street lights.
But last week Louise Ellman, chairman of the House of Commons transport select committee, voiced safety fears over such moves.
The AA echoed her concerns.
By Dave Morris
Most Commented
- Clampdown on Shrewsbury chuggers
- Bishop's gay marriage views do nothing to support bible teachings
- Letter: Alcohol price plans annoy me
- Planners ordered to stay on Newport visit bus
- Letter: Angered by close encounter of the furred kind
- Letter: No sense in overseas job adverts
- The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff doesn't raise a smile
Shropshire Star on Twitter
Keep updated with the latest breaking news and content on our Twitter feed.
Lifestyle
Interactive Dining Out map
Hundreds of reviews by the Shropshire Star and Express & Star's teams to help you decide where to eat.
Entertainment
All the film reviews
Before you plan a trip to the pictures, get our critics' verdicts on all the latest movie releases.
OUR NEW APP
Get the new Shropshire Star app
Download the Shropshire Star’s new app to your iPad or iPhone to get one week of access to our digital newspapers absolutely FREE.
shropshirestar.com
Popular sections
Useful links
Why does it always take “until next year” to get things done.
You’re turning electric lights off, Shropshire Council, not reviewing the Trident nuclear submarine system. You just flick a switch or adjust a timer.
Get out there and do it now, then the trial results will be in in time to make a decision for the dark evenings. Leave it much longer and we’ll be back to Summer before anything happens.
Report abuse
What about the villages too??? I would love the lights to go off where I live, especially over winter. Nice clear non-polluted skies to get a proper look at the stars!
Report abuse
I have to agree with Rodney here, why does it take so long? I bet if the councillors were voted a increase in their attendance fees they probably wouldn’t wait…….
Report abuse
It’s a great idea – be lovely to be able to see the stars where I live (near Heathrow)
I think the whole country is over-lit at night and a lot of the light is wasted as it radiates upwards (don’t believe me ? – have a look at a satellite photo of the UK at night and check out the glow)
Agree with Rodney – get on with NOW , don’t waste time
Report abuse
Its a shame that a rolling replacement of street light tops doesn’t include some form of reflector or shade to make sure light only goes downwards and not lighting up the sky – which is a complete waste of money and light pollution. Its been talked about over the years but rarely done.
It would make the one in two lights left on more efficient anyway and may not ever need all the lights again in many cases.
Report abuse
Why save yourself money today that you can put off saving until tomorrow. Here’s an idea, instead of doing a 12 month trial with a couple of little villages, why not ask the various other UK counties who have been successfully(!) trialling this for a year or two. Come on Shropshire Council, wake up.
Report abuse
I have to agree with the previous posts. Turn them off as soon as possible.
Report abuse
I agree with the others – dont wait – get on with it!! And why trial? think of the money you could save all over Shropshire. I live in Shrewsbury and would love to be able to see the stars better at night. I do understand some lights would need to stay on in a large town but surely not in residential areas!
Report abuse
Come on Andrew do your bit. Forward these comments to the council, the solution is there for them. Even they should manage to understand that,or—–maybe not.
Report abuse
Having two member of family working nights which means that I have mixed feelings about this.
The extraordinary large amount of taxpayers money spent on winning awards for flowers and protecting trees in Shropshire does not seem to be threatened however so perhaps I should not grumble.
Report abuse
I think its a stupid idea!They have not conciders the bad points of the street lights being turn off.It Mean the Public who got work eurly morning could get attack by anyone.you become more vanable for being attacked.Bad Idea.
If they relly want to save money they better think of a other idea to low carbon.
Report abuse
Did you go to school?!
Report abuse
No, it was too dark to find it…….
Report abuse
I think he is practicing typing in the dark !
Report abuse
They should try turning them off during the day on Stafford Park and the Eastern Primary!
Report abuse
Good – turn these polluting lights off! There’s been a spate of vandalism across Shropshire these past few weeks – the kids won’t have any street lights to help them see what they are doing.
My village is earmarked for “development” and we’ll have those confounded street lights installed when previously we’ve enjoyed uninterrupted views of the Milky Way and dozens of naked-eye celestial objects such as the Andromeda Galaxy and Orion. For the experts: limiting magnitude 5.5 – 6
For illuminating your way to the car, torches are a wonderful invention.
BTW, I implore anyone living in these towns during the trial to look up to the stars and see what you’ve been missing. You won’t want the lights back on! Plus the fact you will be stunned as to how dark adapted your eyes will become – you can acually see your way around!
Report abuse
They should also try turning off the lights on the Island outside Link 51 at Halesfield, they’re on permanently.
I think someone needs to drive round Telford and check the amount of lights that are on during the day.
Report abuse
Woodside roundabout is the same.
Report abuse
I agree Mandy, the christmas lights are still in the tree at top of Wellington rd Donnington & they have come on every night since last christmas, what a waste of public money? mind its nearly that time of the year again so they might aswell leave them!!!!
Report abuse
good on them, i support this for green reasons
Report abuse
With regard to the comments about taking a year to make decisions, have you not realised Shropshire Council is a Dinosaur, and dinosaurs are renowned for being very slow and incredibly ponderous!!
Report abuse
less light means less street safety.
you could replace your traditional street lighting systems with LED systems, they would give you bright street lighting and energy saving.
Archilede from iGuzzini, for example, will let you save 40% – and it’s also dark sky-certified.
you’ll be able to see your stars in the night sky, save 40% electricity, keep streets a safe place.
http://www.iguzzini.com/html/en/archilede.html
Report abuse
Good idea, but why also not also fit them with passive detectors so that when one light detects movement it will turn on and the say next four or five lights in that area.
Report abuse
after visiting the shirehall in june on a bright sunny day, i was suprised to see all the ceiling and wall lights switched on.
it’s pleasing to see where some of our money is spent !!
and while i am here, maybe the staff could be given a jumper so they could reduce there heating by 5 degree,s and therefore a considerable amount of (our) hard earned cash.
thankyou.
Report abuse
Would you like them to provide their own loo roll while they’re at it?
Report abuse
Well the job wouldn’t be done if the paper works not complete :)
Report abuse
Why do less lights mean less street safety? You should be careful regardless of whether there are lights there or not? And as for the crime increase, the blatently arrogant burglars will empty your home in broad daylight so the lights aren’t a deterrent there. Cutbacks have got to be made and turning lights off at unsociable hours when there’s less people and traffic about anyway could save quite a chunk. Would you rather they took this money from the schools? I’d say the schools budgets are more of a priority than street lights. True they could switch off those staying on all day wasting money too though!
Don’t wait a year though, do it now, no one goes out in the winter evenings if they can help because it’s too cold anyway.
Report abuse
Good, turn them off and the sooner the better.
is it my memory playing tricks on me, or did street lights used to be turned off after midnight anyway?
Report abuse
The figures are completely ridiculous… the entire lighting bill for Shropshire per annum is less than £1m.
I can 100% guarantee you that the cost of achieving this tiny (£240k) saving will be totally eclipsed by the CAPITAL and LABOUR cost in retrofitting light, installing dimmers, adjusting time clocks. NO-ONE has mentioned this. And don’t tell me about the successive savings – if implemented in draconian fashion I can fully envisage residents imploring for them to be switched back on; something which IS occuring in several towns who “experimented” in times of prosperity and have now been forced to re-visit that decision for a number of reasons.
We have been reliably informed by successive governments that the cost of a road fatality is over £1 million.
Most of these lights were put there for a) safety and b) because our previous city fathers thought they were a good idea.
So, therefore, if as a result of lighting being turned off and a single road fatality is caused as a direct result – what saving is there then???
A previous correspondent on another thread makes a good point – people will just install their own £15 lights from B&Q/Homebase etc. These consume 500 – 1000w! 10 – 20 times the amount consumed by an average street light. No “green” saving there then either.
I am in favour of SOME of the lights going off but NOT in times of austerity where villainy and vandalism is going up in leaps and bounds IN SHROPSHIRE. Cars being burned in Oswestry and Whitchurch – heck, Ellesmere’s own Town Hall had £5000 worth of lead stolen on 4 out of 6 nights!!
A reformed burglar said that the biggest deterrent to burgling an establishment is light.
And to you night sky lovers do not imagine they are all going off – they’re not.
Report abuse
“people will just install their own £15 lights from B&Q/Homebase etc. These consume 500 – 1000w”
Hmmmm, somewhat of an exagerrated statement.
I have an ‘instant’ energy saving 9 watt connected to to a passive movement detector. Works great for my dark road and cost literally a couple of pence per year.
Report abuse
Sorry Matt, my 500w lights DO cost £14.95 and throw considerably more light than the seemingly cheapest £35.00 odd 9W PIR. All I did was type in 500W PIR and then 9W PIR into Google. Otherwise I agree :)
Doesn’t get away from the capex and installation cost to residents.
The savings are miniscule .. all that is happening is the COUNCIL is off setting its target carbon reductions by throwing it on to residents.
Report abuse
OK… just found a 9W PIR for £14.95 as well. Point taken.
Report abuse
Hi Shuggie,
I wasn’t disagreeing with your cost. I just disagreed with you in as much as people will go around installing 1000 watt floodlights to compensate for a lack of street lights.
You do raise a valid point about more people installing their own lighting, thus offsetting any ‘carbon saving’.
Report abuse
[Don’t wait a year though, do it now, no one goes out in the winter evenings if they can help because it’s too cold anyway.]
#19 unless you are one of the many many folk who need their pay packet and walk to work at 5.30 am or 12 midnight for example.
I think that there are safety issues here and that there are many other areas that our council could save money.
Report abuse
My mother goes out to walk to work at 5am in the morning. She wears a light reflective jacket so that she is highlighted in car headlights without the need for streetlights which are rarely working where she has to go anyway. If you have to work at unsociable hours you should be wearing safety clothing when walking along the roadside or you put your own safety in jeopardy.
And what areas would you cut expenditure if you’ve got a better idea? Everyone’s quick to criticise council ideas for saving money but no-one comes up with an alternative.
Report abuse
fine by me, rather cut this than real services jobs and facilities, this is a sensible efficiency
Report abuse
Seems a lot of sense here – can someone print it out and find councillors who will take the points along to Telford or/and Shropshire council.
Report abuse
good on them for trying to do some positive savings, more efficiency with energy and stuff is a good thing, its a pain free saving for the council, so well done, keep it up and ignore the nay saying luddites
Report abuse
Telford & Wrekin Council have already done this and we now have a computer controlled lighting system along the a442 which automatically turns off the lights at midnight and puts them back on at 5am…
… the beauty of the T&W Council system is with it being computer controlled it can turned back on at a flick of a switch should there be an emergency.
That is why when they were testing we saw the lights on all day a few months ago… i believe the testing is over.
Report abuse