Edlesborough Parish Council owns and manages a total of 143 street lights in the parish. Many of these are very old and the subsequent repairs are costing over £5,000 per year. The cost of the electricity is currently £4,400 per year. Both of these costs are forecast to increase by much more than inflation in the future. Other local parish councils are also being confronted by similar challenges.
Accordingly, the Council has been working with a consortium of seven other local parish councils to investigate changing over to LED lights. The consortium's total potential purchases have enabled a very competitive offer to be obtained from a manufacturer and installer - including a warranty against any light failures for the first 6 years. In fact, Phillips, the manufacturer of the LEDs, predict a life of over 25 years for each LED. Each new light would have a total of 12 LEDs. As a light is only considered to have failed if two or more LEDs have failed, it is unlikely that many lights will have to be repaired in the future.
The subsequent elimination of repair costs for at least six years, together with the very significant savings in electricity, have convinced all eight parish councils to invest in LEDs. Some of these electricity savings will be achieved by the software driver in each light being programmed to either switch-off, or be dimmed, during the night. There are also some non-financial benefits such as being 'dark sky friendly' and the use of various lenses to project the light where it's required on the pavement.
Subject to some further trials, the Council has agreed a rolling programme to replace all its street lights with LED over the next two years. The total cost of this project will be about £43,500 which will be funded by the sinking fund which has recently been started, and by switching monies earmarked for some other, less priority, projects. The total projected annual savings of some £8,000 per year will therefore provide a payback in less than 6 years.
Progress reports and further information on this project will be given in future editions of 'Focus' and in the Minutes of Parish Council meetings which can be viewed on the website.
Turning now to our existing street lights. Several failed lights have been reported to the technician for repairs. Please remember to report any faulty streetlights to the Clerk on 01525 22938 or [email protected] or via our Facebook page NOT AVDC or Bucks CC.
New Street Lights in Edlesborough, Dagnall and Northall was published on October 17, 2014
