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Buckinghamshire County Council(BCC)is upholding its decision to turn streetlights off permanently in 40 locations in the county.
The decision has been made off the back of a three-year trial,during which streetlights across 46 locations countywide were switched off.Overall a total of 1,627 lights will remain switched off as a result of the decision.
The council openly admitted that the trial"was not intended to look at or use any alternative ways of keeping the lights on,even if,after initial additional capital expenditure,these might have resulted in future savings both in terms of energy used and ongoing costs.Instead the trial was intended to switch off lights which were no longer seen as an essential requirement for road safety or traffic management reasons".
The council further justified its decision by stating that:"The lights that have now been switched off were provided many years ago for a variety of different reasons when alternatives to lighting were limited and these sites would not be considered a priority or necessity for street lighting today."
However,resident comments that were submitted as part of the consultation suggest that the trial was not met with universal approval.One resident wrote in to say:"I work in Oxford Road,Denham and use public transport.It is pitch black at 5pm when I leave the office and the bus driver can't see us standing at the bus stop unless we wave our mobile phones.It feels unsafe if there alone.Why not switch the lights off at,say 9pm,when most people will have reached their destination?"
Hazelmere Parish council responded to the consultation by saying that it"strongly and robustly"challenged any plans to keep lights switched off."The road has seen a number of fatal accidents over the last few years and is well known to local people as an extremely dangerous stretch of road.Local people rely on street lighting for a variety of reasons–not simply road safety and the safety and comfort afforded by street lights is highly valued.Views should not be ignored,discounted nor underestimated."
Other comments,however,were more favourable towards the trial:"We are]delighted with this initiative which ourselves and the National Trust tried persuading BCC to do in the late 1990s,initially along the Hughenden Valley and later at Great Missenden,"said one."There is additional benefit that unnecessary light pollution in the countryside is removed."
It is unclear how these resident comments influenced the decision to switch the lights back on in six locations but an annexe to the report outlines all of the public responses and the decisions for each of the 46 locations.
Peter Hardy,Buckinghamshire County Council Cabinet Member for Planning and Transportation said:"Following careful consideration of the data collected and feedback received during the three year trial,decisions have now been made regarding the permanent solutions at each of the sites.Work to implement the recommendations will begin later this year."
Nigel Parry,Professional Services Manager at the Institution of Lighting Professionals commented,"Many progressive local authorities are taking a different approach to saving energy and carbon by installing new lighting and control systems that can dim the level of lighting during the'off peak'times but still retain sufficient lighting for safety whilst making energy savings and helping to achieve their sustainability targets.
"It is therefore disappointing to hear that Buckinghamshire have decided to ignore their own residents'concerns and keep the lights off purely to save a few pounds in their budget.They indicate that crime and accident figures are down but that's maybe due to no-one going out after dark in those areas anymore.And we all trust that there won't be a fatal accident at night,which lighting may have prevented.[If there is an accident],theirGBP250,000 saving may be needed to cover theGBP1.5m cost to the community for that accident."
