This article was published in July 2015. Please see News & Campaigns for more recent information.

Following the trials of the LED light on a new column in Main Road North, Dagnall, a comprehensive survey was carried out on Thursday 4th June 2015 of all the street lights in the Parish. Teams of two local Councillors and two representatives from the manufacturer and installer visited every street light and recorded the following actions to be taken:

  • repairs to, or replacement of, the existing brackets and arms etc.
  • rotating the arm/bracket where necessary to improve the spread of light on road junctions or cul de sac areas etc
  • which type of lens to be used on the new light ("narrow" so as to throw as much light as possible along the pavement or, "broad" so as to throw more light onto the road junction or cul de sac area etc
  • the angle of the lamp head so as to reduce light infiltration to bedrooms etc

LED Street LightingEach new light will have a total of 12 LEDs and will be programmed as follows:

  • the amount of light (lumens) will be just slightly more than that being emitted by the existing sodium lamps
  • the colour of the light will be white, (whereas the existing sodium lights appear orange)
  • practically all the light will be projected onto the ground rather than all around as now
  • the combination of all of the above will make the new LED lights "appear" to be somewhat brighter
  • as now, the lights will come on when it’s dark
  • rather than turn the lights off completely at mid-night, the Council has decided to dim them by 50%, thereby still obtaining some savings in electricity but giving parishioners a continuity of lighting through out the hours of darkness

The next phase of the programme will be to carry out any necessary repairs and to replace all the 12 lights in Northall with the new LED lamps. The 5 lights in Edlesborough which are currently not working will also be replaced by the new LED lamps.

The existing light on the very dark bend in the road between Churchgate and No. 98 High Street will also be replaced by a new LED lamp. This stretch of pavement is well used by children going to and fro to school and by local residents. Accordingly, in view of the very dark location, and the fact that there are no bedroom windows etc opposite, the LEDs will be programmed to give two and a half times as much light as all the other new LED lights.

It is hoped that all these 18 new lights will be installed by early September. Feedback from parishioners will then be very much welcomed, following which a decision will be made for the next phase of the programme to be implemented (all the Dagnall lights and any lights in Edlesborough which may not be working at that time). The final phase will be to replace all the old sodium lamps in Edlesborough.

Please let Penny Pataky have any feedback on 01525 229358 or [email protected]

Progress Report on New LED Street Lights was published on July 26, 2015