Changes to Grantham’s streetlights

Work to introduce a more cost-effective approach to street lighting in the county will continue in the areas around Grantham, Sleaford, Caistor, Market Rasen and Louth during September.

In light of ongoing funding cuts, the council is looking to save £1.7m from its annual £5m street lighting budget. This will be achieved through the following measures, which will be introduced countywide:

• 17,000 of the county’s 68,000 lights will be swapped for low-energy LED ones which can be dimmed
• ‘Part-night’ lighting is being introduced in certain, mostly residential, areas, where lights will turn on at dusk and remain on until midnight. Lights will then be switched off until 6am. This will affect 38,000 street lights
• Up to 3,000 street lights, away from built up areas, have been identified for possible switch off, subject to further assessments

The changes are taking place across the county in phases between April 2016 and March 2017, with the work that has already taken place equating to savings of over £400,000 per year.

Cllr Richard Davies, Executive Member for Highways and Transport, 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.”

For further details on the streetlight transformation project, visit www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/streetlighting

Below are some maps showing how the changes will impact on Grantham:

Key

• Yellow Dot – on all night – converted to LED/Dimming (above 90W)
• Purple Dot – on all night – normal lamp (above 70w – possibly converted to  LED in future)
• Red Dot – on all night due to exception criteria
• Blue Dot – converted to Part Night Light
• Light Blue Flower – due to be converted to Part Night Light
• Pink Dot – previously converted to LED (now also part night light)
• Small red or yellow squares – signs or bollards
• Green Dot – owned by district