Work starts on replacing street lighting in Carmarthenshire

A total of 500 street lights have been replaced in Carmarthenshire to date, thanks to funding made available through the Local Government Borrowing Initiative.

Some £900,000 was earmarked over a three year period to replace lighting columns throughout the county.
Using LED light technology, the new street lights not only give high performance but are also better for the environment and cheaper to run with typical savings of up to 50% in both electricity consumption and CO2 production.
The new columns are made from aluminium which is corrosion-resistant so they last longer and with minimal maintenance also cost less. Aluminium has a lower carbon footprint to produce and transport (due to its reduced weight) and is safer, reducing the risk of death or serious injury in road traffic collisions.
The lighting column replacement programme started last financial year with a total of 400 new lighting columns installed.
A further 100 have been installed since April, and another 300 are estimated to be replaced by the end of this financial year.
Executive Board Member for Technical Services Cllr Colin Evans said: “All our lighting columns are inspected to check for any risk of structural collapse and tested by our lighting engineers on a rolling programme to identify which columns have defects and require maintenance or replacement.
“We are very fortunate that we have been able to secure this funding, through Welsh Government, as without it, it would not have been possible to provide these new lighting columns.”