Agenda item

(To receive a report from Richard Hardesty, Senior Project Leader, which provides an update on the Street Lighting Transformation Project, commenced following the evaluation of budget reduction options to ensure that street lighting in Lincolnshire was more efficient, sustainable and relevant for the county)

Consideration was given to a report by the Executive Director for Environment and Economy which provided an update on the Street Lighting Transformation Project, commenced following an evaluation of budget reduction options to ensure that street lighting in Lincolnshire was more efficient, sustainable and relevant for the county.

Richard Hardesty, Senior Project Leader, introduced the report and gave a presentation to the Committee which covered the following items:-

1.    Purpose and Content (LCC have approximately 68k street lamps; costs in the region of £5m to operate and maintain; currently use approximately 26,500,00Kwh per annum or 16% of LCCs carbon baseline; not to be confused with other lighting initiatives within District Councils);

2.    The Challenge (unable to continue due to budget cuts; Started as 'Save £1.2m per annum' which has increased to £1.77m per annum; included 'switch off 6000 street lamps');

3.    Our Options (convert 68k lamps to LED c£18m; introduce Central Management System c£4m; switch everything off; combination of LED upgrades, switch offs and part night lighting at c£6.4m);

4.    Proposed Solution (Circa 17k LED conversions with dimming; Circa 38k part night lighting in residential areas; up to 3k switch offs on non-urban trafficked routes; combined with a list of exceptions);

5.    The Expected Benefits (£1.77m revenue savings via a 3.6 year payback based on £6.4m investment; 12.5m Kwh annual reduction in energy; 6250 tonnes carbon reduction; Achieve 1/3 of LCC's 5 year target of 18k tonnes of Co2 reduction; reduced light pollution; reduced ongoing maintenance);

6.    Next Steps (Finalise on site assessments for switch offs; communications plan; roll out LEDs/Part Nights/Switch offs from April 2016; changes implemented and savings made by April 2017);

It was agreed that the presentation would be circulated to the Committee and added to the website.

During discussion, the following points were noted:-

·       Concern was raised in regard to extra-curricular activity and events held in schools during the evening, particularly in winter, and asked if there was provision to switch off certain lights later.  It was explained that the majority of lights were switched off by street and 10pm would be the earliest a street light would be turned off.  New equipment gave the choice to switch off at 10pm or midnight and was therefore not as flexible as sounded.  It was unlikely, however, that any street lights in the vicinity of school grounds would be switched off before midnight;

·       The team were aware of which street lights were the responsibility of LCC and those of the District Councils.  These were all logged on a GPS system which would allow cross-referencing of lighting, for example on highways;

·       There were stickers which would assist Parish and Town Councils in distinguishing the difference between lights and their ownership i.e. County or District Council;

·       Any request for lighting of a cycleway would result in the lights being over the highway itself and this was due to the policy advising that the purpose of a street light was to light the highway.  The distance of the columns were also designed for new installations;

·       As part of the 'exceptions' lighting would be maintained in town centres.  This was identified on the website as part of the Street Lighting policy.  Town Centres were those as referred to LTP4;

·       The Committee were advised to presume that lights would be switched off through part night lighting unless they were listed in the exceptions listed on the website;

·       Further explanation was given that lights after the final junction of the highways network would be turned off at 10.00pm.  The majority of lighting in villages like Nettleham, for example, would remain lit until midnight.  This was based on the reduction of traffic flow at those times;

·       A suggestion was made to ensure that trees branches which obstructed lighting be cut to ensure lights were as effective as possible;

·       It was agreed that the Committee would be circulated an electronic link to LTP Number 4 which provided this detail;

RESOLVED

          That the report and comments be noted.

At 1.00pm, Councillor A Austin left the meeting and did not return.