Our local authority has put off a decision to switch off a third of Powys’ 14,000 street lights for a year to save money and energy until next month.
In a few weeks I may be one of the councillors asked to consider this proposal. If councillors vote in favour of the project next month then 5,000 lights will be switched off in June.
The lighting bill is around £500,000 per year and is set to rise by £175,000 with rising costs and a tight budget.
After chatting to people in Trehafren last night, I could be mistaken for thinking the scheme was already underway, as a number of residents told me about lights around their homes not coming on.
Of course I knew that the scheme hadn’t really started, and wondered if it was it worth reporting the problem, given that they may be left turned off anyway in a few weeks!
I’m in favour of finding ways to save electricity, and I’m making this a priority in my shop. However, I’m also in favour of having good street lighting, particularly to increase public security and safety.
I’m not sure how much it costs to install one lamppost and light, but I expect the cost is fairly high. Surely, it doesn’t make any sense to spend money installing street lights, only to then introduce a policy not to turn them on?
Russ –
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Totally with you on this.
Good luck tomorrow. I’ll be voting …..
Hmm, will we be suprised if after one year in darkness we wake up one morning and find 3 out of 4 streetlamps have been removed by Powys C.C. and sold for scrap value?
This is sinister,…I have a feeling that once we get used to living in the dark, thats the way things will stay!
I’m looking forward to getting more information about this topic, don’t worry about negative opinions.