Five new areas in Lincolnshire are set to see their street lights turned off as part of a council programme to save £1.7m…
More street lights are set to be turned off under controversial plans from Lincolnshire County Council.
Despite outcry from the public the county council turned off some lights from 10pm in Lincoln as part of a programme to save £1.7m. The council said it will turn off lights in five new areas and replace others with cost-effective alternatives in villages around Market Rasen, Caistor, Louth, Sleaford and Grantham.
The county council aims to shave £1.7m from its £5m street lighting budget by switching 17,000 of the county’s 68,000 lights to low-energy LED ones that can be dimmed.
Many residential areas are to have part-night lighting introduced, which will see 38,000 lights switched off between midnight and 6am. The county council has also identified a further 3,000 street lights that could be switched off. Further assessments will be conducted into this.
Councillor Richard Davies said: “The council’s budget has been cut by more than £100m over the last few years, and we need to save a further £41m this year.
“We simply can’t afford to do everything we’ve done in the past.
“Streetlights are expensive, and, frankly, many of them do not need to be on during the small hours of the morning – all they are doing is burning taxpayers’ money.
“The evidence shows that, by turning these lights off at times when there is less traffic, we can save money without affecting the majority of road users. And by saving money in this way, we can protect other vital areas, like the pothole budget.
“Of course, public safety remains an overriding concern, so at every location, we’ll give careful consideration to the effects of any reduction in lighting. In some places, changes won’t be appropriate, so we’ll keep things as they are.”
