The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Residents in South Holland will notice further differences to street lighting as a project to save cash is rolled out.
Spalding, Holbeach, Gosberton and Sutton St James are next in line for the phased changes as Lincolnshire County Council looks to cut its annual £5m streetlighting budget by about a third.
The measures include:
- switching off 38,000 street lights in some residential areas between midnight and 6am
- replacing 17,000 of the county’s 68,000 lights with low-energy LED
- plans for 3,000 street lights away from built-up areas to be switched off
Coun Richard Davies, the county council’s executive member for highways and transport, said: “The council’s budget has been cut by more than £100m over the last few years, and we have a further estimated budget shortfall of £57m for next year. We simply can’t afford to do everything we’ve done in the past.
“Streetlights are expensive, and, frankly, many of them do not need to be on during the small hours of the morning – all they are doing is burning taxpayers’ money.
“The evidence shows that, by turning these lights off at times when there is less traffic, we can save money without affecting the majority of road users. And by saving money in this way, we can protect other vital areas, like the pothole budget.
“Of course, public safety remains an overriding concern, so at every location, we’ll give careful consideration to the effects of any reduction in lighting. In some places, changes won’t be appropriate, so we’ll keep things as they are.”
