Advice on lighting in Carmarthenshire
Public sector organisations and private businesses in Carmarthenshire are being urged to follow in the council’s footsteps and switch off any unnecessary lighting.
Work is underway to switch off a third of the county’s street lights between 12.30am and 5.30am.
One in three lights is being switched off in residential areas and up to two in three on highway routes.
A progress report went before the council’s Environment Scrutiny Committee explaining that work had already begun in the southern part of the county.
So far a total of 1,162 lighting columns (out of a proposed 6,000) have been switched off in the Burry Port, Kidwelly and Pontyberem areas. Llanelli town is to be completed by August.
Councillors were pleased to hear that although there have been quite a few queries on the scheme, there had been no major complaints from the public.
The aim of the part-night lighting scheme is to reduce the council’s carbon footprint and save on energy costs. Once it is rolled out across the county the authority will cut its carbon emissions by approximately 1.4 per cent a year and reduce overall energy costs by about 13 per cent per annum.
Now other organisations and businesses in the county are being encouraged to consider similar initiatives in respect of their own lighting stock.
The council will be sending out a briefing note following a recommendation by the scrutiny committee.
The council’s Director of Technical Services Richard Workman said: “This kind of scheme could be considered by private businesses and other public sector bodies where it is feasible that lighting levels in car parks and other external areas of premises could be reduced for specific periods during the hours of darkness, as the initiative is relatively easy to implement. There are also alternatives available other than part-night, such as dimmable lighting, or LED lighting that can be considered depending on the nature of existing installations.
“The council would therefore encourage other public sector bodies and private sector businesses to think about introducing similar initiatives and consider new energy efficient technologies for any new installations that are planned.”
The scrutiny committee has also asked for representatives from the Mid Wales and South Wales Trunk Road Agencies to attend a future meeting to discuss if they have any energy-saving lighting initiatives planned.
Work is underway to switch off a third of the county’s street lights between 12.30am and 5.30am.
One in three lights is being switched off in residential areas and up to two in three on highway routes.
A progress report went before the council’s Environment Scrutiny Committee explaining that work had already begun in the southern part of the county.
So far a total of 1,162 lighting columns (out of a proposed 6,000) have been switched off in the Burry Port, Kidwelly and Pontyberem areas. Llanelli town is to be completed by August.
Councillors were pleased to hear that although there have been quite a few queries on the scheme, there had been no major complaints from the public.
The aim of the part-night lighting scheme is to reduce the council’s carbon footprint and save on energy costs. Once it is rolled out across the county the authority will cut its carbon emissions by approximately 1.4 per cent a year and reduce overall energy costs by about 13 per cent per annum.
Now other organisations and businesses in the county are being encouraged to consider similar initiatives in respect of their own lighting stock.
The council will be sending out a briefing note following a recommendation by the scrutiny committee.
The council’s Director of Technical Services Richard Workman said: “This kind of scheme could be considered by private businesses and other public sector bodies where it is feasible that lighting levels in car parks and other external areas of premises could be reduced for specific periods during the hours of darkness, as the initiative is relatively easy to implement. There are also alternatives available other than part-night, such as dimmable lighting, or LED lighting that can be considered depending on the nature of existing installations.
“The council would therefore encourage other public sector bodies and private sector businesses to think about introducing similar initiatives and consider new energy efficient technologies for any new installations that are planned.”
The scrutiny committee has also asked for representatives from the Mid Wales and South Wales Trunk Road Agencies to attend a future meeting to discuss if they have any energy-saving lighting initiatives planned.
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