Agenda item

County Council Officers responsible for Street Lighting talked through the Agenda Report.  In the ensuing discussion, the following main points were made:

·         The Council has a duty of care to maintain street lights and this is done through a maintenance contractor

·         A number of the original concrete columns still exist, despite being given a 30 year life when installed in the 1960's.  A survey of all of these is currently being undertaken.  The Panel asked for the results of this survey once complete

·         Until the extent of the need to replace concrete columns is known, it was difficult to prioritise other works, however, there was £4m budget for the next 3 years, but original sodium lights could no longer be sourced, meaning once the light had gone, it could not be replaced

·         The cost to replace a concrete column was around £1,000

·         Not all lights are owned by the Council, with some owned by Parishes.  The maintenance of these varied but some had agreements with the Council

·         In response to a query about mapping, it was clarified that all columns are mapped and should be easily identifiable, especially as all should have a unique number visible to the public.  Queries relating to specific cases, could be discussed directly with Officers at any time

·         One Member suggested an improvement to the way in which residents reported an issue by introducing some feedback to report the issue had been resolved.  Officers suggested they could investigate as technology was becoming smarter

·         When asked whether the concept of electric charging points had been considered, as other Councils were doing, it was noted that this could be followed up with Officers

·         The part night switch off was an initiative agreed in 2014 where on average one in three less efficient sodium lights were switched off, achieving required savings.  It was noted that LED lights would not be switched off, so in time, all lights would be constantly on at night

·         One Member asked whether information was available relating to the level of crime due to the initiative and asked for further information to be provided

·         Performance to replace a light was good, with 98% achieved within the 7 day expectation and monitoring was undertaken by the Council to ensure this was the case

·         In response to a question, Members learned that the cost of LED lights was reducing and the Council was now sourcing stock from a local company who also provided a 15 year guarantee.  Developments meant that different options for LEDs was also possible, including minimising the impact of lights close to a residential window for example

·         The Panel however was disappointed to hear that only around 10% of columns were LED lit

·         One Member believed that new housing developments were being established with less columns, to be informed that this was not the case.

It was agreed to invite Officers back in twelve months to review the work undertaken.  In the meantime, Members looked forward to receiving the results of the concrete column survey being undertaken and further detail on crime rates during the part night switch off.