Agenda item

The Committee considered the Street Lighting Energy Reduction (SLERP) Project update report of the Corporate Director of Neighbourhoods and Climate Change (for copy of report and presentation see file of minutes). 

The Head of Highways, Mark Readman, was welcomed to the meeting to deliver the presentation.  Background information was provided on the development of the invest-to-save project to convert high energy lanterns to low energy LED lanterns in order to reduce carbon emissions, energy consumption and costs.  The Committee noted the project is the largest single contributor to the Council’s reduction in carbon emissions to date.

In addition to energy and carbon reduction, the Committee noted the project delivers a number of benefits which include better quality white light, fewer road traffic accidents and reduced maintenance costs, saving an average of £1.2million per year.

The Head of Highways highlighted that a number of factors are taken into consideration when converting existing lighting installations to LEDs which include the location of the column, road width, road speed and conversion costs.

Information was provided that SLERP 1 had delivered 16.9 million kwh of energy reduction and the Head of Highways illustrated the scale by explaining that a typical house will use 10,000 kwh per year.  In respect of carbon savings, these were 8,413 tonnes with a typical house using 8.1 tonnes per year.  During this phase 20,000 additional lights were converted, due to reduced conversion costs, as the project progressed.

SLERP 2 progressed to lanterns which were more difficult to convert which led to the project being extended for six months. This phase was completed at an underspend of £2.9million due to technological advances and the reducing cost of lanterns. The underspend has been used to fund SLERP 3 which commenced in September 2023, aiming to convert 1,900 street lights by March 2025. 

The target is ambitious as many of the conversions will be more complex and costly than those in the previous phases and column replacement may be required. 

The Committee heard that by the completion of the project, 3,500 ‘out of scope’ lanterns will remain outstanding and the plan is to incorporate these lanterns within the traditional column replacement programme. 

Councillor Adam commented that some town and parish councils had funded the continuance of lighting in their areas and he asked what the situation would be if those councils, due to lack of funds, made a decision not to fund this lighting in the future.  The Head of Highways replied that these would not be included in SLERP 3.  He informed the Committee that a full review of the service level agreements will be undertaken and town and parish councils will be involved in the process.

Councillor Reed gave her view that lighting had been removed in some areas where she felt it was required and she asked what criteria was used when decisions were originally taken to remove lighting.  She added that pedestrians should be able to walk safely during hours of darkness and shared her concerns that lack of lighting may be leading to an increase in accidents. Councillor Reed also highlighted that not all towns and villages benefit from having a town or parish council to assist with funding.  The Head of Highways replied that a full risk assessment and consultation took place and the number of lights which were originally planned for removal was substantially reduced.  He acknowledged that members had provided some direct funding to reinstall lights in some areas and highlighted that he was keen to work with members should they want to provide direct funding. Councillor Reed said she would welcome further investment and the Head of Highways expressed his willingness to work with members to ensure lighting is safe and connected communities. Councillor Reed requested that should any additional funding become available, that the service look at reinstating lighting columns in areas where they had been removed.

With reference to a question from the Chair as to whether motion sensor lighting could be used as an alternative to removing lighting, the Head of Highways explained that the use of motion sensor lighting had been investigated however technical issues were found. Jonathon Hughes, Street Lighting Engineer, explained that this would be classed as part night-lighting and it is possible that this could be a policy development in the future. 

Councillor Ormerod referred to street lighting columns and asked whether the Council has scope to alter the design of street lighting columns to provide a more traditional appearance. The Head of Highways pointed out that heritage lanterns are costly, however, in some conservation areas they are a requirement in order that lighting is in-keeping with the area.  He added that columns can be improved with embellishments which is a more cost-effective method of providing the appearance of a heritage column. 

Councillor Sutton-Lloyd congratulated the team on the successful delivery of the programme to date. He referred to the original reluctance to accept the proposals and he hoped the results had allayed concerns.  Councillor Sutton-Lloyd raised the issue of the number of day-burners he had observed.  The Street Lighting Engineer explained in the early stages, day-burners were caused by faulty microchips however faulty batches had been reported to manufacturers, therefore, incidents of day-burners should continue to reduce in the future. The Head of Highways urged members to continue to report day-burners through the CRM system. 

Councillor Stubbs commented on how well the project had been delivered and he asked what the plan was, on completion of the project, in terms of the team involved  and whether they could share their good practice for future capital projects.

Resolved:

a)    That the content of the report and presentation be noted

b)    That the Environment and Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee receive an end of project update report on completion of the scheme in 2025.