Street lights dimmed to save councils cash
Monday 24th October 2011, 11:29AM BST.
Street lights are being dimmed after midnight as councils battle to save money, it can be revealed today.
Wolverhampton and Walsall councils have both tried turning down lights and the idea is also being considered in Staffordshire. On the Rakegate estate in Wolverhampton, 112 lights are being turned down to just 40 per cent of their full power between midnight and 6am.
And in Walsall last year the council dimmed the lights on Aldridge Road between the Dilke island and the Peugeot island on the A453 between midnight and 5am, but gave up after a month. The Wolverhampton pilot scheme was launched without any announcement in March 2010. The new LED lights were funded by a Government grant but there are no plans at present to install them elsewhere.
Steve Woodward, Wolverhampton’s head of street scene services, said: “We estimate it has reduced energy consumption and carbon emissions by up to 68 per cent compared to the traditional way the streets were lit.”
Click here to read the full story in the premium 24 website.
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There’s nothing like a bit of selective E&S editorial journalism! What this story fails to point out is that the modern LED lights provide a crisper whiter light compared to the old orange glow we are more familiar with so it is a much better light to see by. Also I believe a survey was done with residents of which the vast moajority of residents said they preferred the newer lights and were happy with the dimming.
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So are we now looking forward to lower council tax?!
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the burgulars will have a field day with dimming the lights
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if they want to save money how about cancelling plans to revamp council buildings that don’t need it…………….they could save a few million there lol
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I think its a good thing to switch the lights off after midnight. It would also help to the cut the crime levels down aswell as saving energy and bill costs. It work back in the seventies so it should work today. Plus we would see the beauty of the night sky and stars.
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Well I think this a fantastic idea! I think that each lampost should have a meter affixed to it. 20p could buy sufficient street lighting to make it to the next street lamp. and so on. I’m sure that the people of Wolverhampton are only too happy to ‘do their bit’, to put banks like the one I own back on an even keel. Absolutely everything possible should be done to ensure that my £4.5 million annual bonus is protected (solely in the national interest). Their may be some lefty types who will exagerrate the problems which may be created by this step (increased crime, road accidents, tripping accidents, etc)but I’m sure they are a tiny minority when set against the vast amajority of well meaning citizens of your city that are happy to navigate their streets by means of touch. A fantastic idea!
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