Footway Lighting Audit Report on the Structure, Condition and Costof Upgrading the Current

Footway Lighting Audit Report on the structure, condition and costof upgrading the current equipment in Pitsford.

People need to feel safe in order to enjoy living anywhere. The right lighting solutions can make it safer for pedestrians and vehicles to use roads and footwaysand can also help to prevent crime such as car thefts and robberies which occur at night. However, there should also be consideration of the impact of light pollution and the impact of the street furnitureon the village.

It is the responsibility of the clerk to source information and ensure appropriate advice is obtained and given to the council before the council makes a binding decision on any matter and to ensure that procedure is followed and is lawful. The purpose of this report is to set out the current situation regarding condition, costs and options for consideration by councillors.

Lighting Currently, 38 lights: 5 Mercury Vapour, 36 Sodium (SOX), 1 LED – replaced in 2012 (no alternative offered)

15 in the conservation area and 23 in the areas of High Street, Broadlands, Drummond Close, The Chase and The Stables.

Comparable prices were obtained on the different types of lighting available but no full streetlighting audit as per the January 2016 resolution 114/15 b).

Previous resolutions and actions:- (Resolutions over 6 months old can be revisited without reference to Standing Orders)

Resolution 114/15 (b) Jan 2016 Updating of street lighting. To discuss and agree action. - In 2012 it was resolved to replace the old mercury vapour lights with LED as they failed but non have failed since that time. They were phased out in 2015. The modern sodium lights have required higher maintenance although are cheaper to run. Parish Council resolvedto carry out a lighting audit and obtain quotations in order to plan for a phased replacement scheme.

Actions: Chairman and Cllr Rogers to carry out streetlighting audit.

Cllr Arnold to research suitable lighting options.

Clerk to seek advice from NCC and obtain quotations from providers.

Resolution 127/15March 2016Lighting upgrade

Parish Council resolved the following LED lighting improvement programme:

Using 2015/16 Reserve: replace the 5 Mercury Vapour lamps - now obsolete.

Using 2016/17 Reserve: begin a programme of work to upgrade the Sodium lights.

Upgrading the lights to LED should provide better quality of light and reduce power costs.

Action: Clerk to obtain 3 formal quotations for replacement

Resolution 046/16 (g) July 2016. The clerk provided estimates from E.on, Allan Peacock, GM Lawrence and Aylesbury Mains (for changing the lamps only). Council resolved Cllr Arnold to review quotations and alternatives suggested.

Resolution 060/16 September 2016. Council resolved to invite Aylesbury Mains to give a presentation on the types of lighting suggested in quotations in order to gain full understanding of the options.

Councillors saw a demonstration of the latest technologies of LED and PLL that are capable of delivering much more efficient methods of producing artificial light, allowing better lighting to be achieved at a lower running cost. Reduced energy consumption, lifetime of lamps and maintenance, suitable quality of light are all considerations but the priority needs to be to provide the right level of lighting safety and security for the residents within the differing environments.

Minutes 078/16 November 2016: Public forum

Mr Willie Moore of Aylesbury Mains attended to give an informative presentation on the different types of street lights available, their merits and energy saving options and that different areas may require/prefer different lighting. ie., areas like Broadlands and High Street have a modern scheme with good spacing of lighting poles whereas in the conservation area of the village, including Manor Road, there are fewer poles and the lighting has to stretch further. Lighting upgrades in progress: Cambridgeshire and Oxfordshire are replacing using PLL and Silverstone and Wing LED.

Minutes: 086/16 (q)Streetlighting Upgrade: Council to discuss presentation and options and to agree action

Councillors discussed the presentation by Aylesbury Mains (078/16). AM supply all types of lighting and offer an economic upgrade by changing the elements in the current SOX head, however, this is only possible using PLL lighting. In consultation with their residents Bugbrook preferred PLL as it is a softer light. Silverstone have switched to LED which is brighter and according to one resident they appear to be happy with them. In Pitsford the light on the flagpole Island is the only LED in the village. Northants County Council use Ceramic Metal Halide lights for streets and LED for road signs.

Resolution 086/16 November 2016 Visits to neighbouring villages to view installations:

Council resolved that Cllrs Flanagan and Bentley should visit the communities of Bugbrooke and Silverstone to view their lighting installations and report back to council

Minutes: 101/16 (l) Jan 2017 in discussion:-Cllrs Flanagan and Bentley visited Silverstone (LED) and Bugbrooke (PLL) to review the lighting choices in the villages. The adequacy of the lighting depends upon how close the columns and lamps are to each other.

Some older villages appear to prefer the softer PLL lamps despite the fact that it is said that LED is cheaper to run. Some, like Boughton, have chosen special architectural heritage lamps in the conservation area.

Summary of findings

Silverstonechose to go LED but applied different levels of lighting in different areas.

Bugbrooke consulted the village residents and arranged a demonstration of the two different lights. The village residents chose PLL. Bugbrooke chose LED for two new developments only. They chose the SOX/PLL conversion route for the remainder of the village lighting - economics. The cost of the tray conversion per lamp was £110 as opposed to £350 for a new lamp. They have had no problems reported with these lamps.

Action 101/16 Jan 2017 Clerk to identify which villages similar to Pitsford have begun a lighting upgrade project. Also, obtain information from Silverstone on the lighting specification in the following streets: High Street, Church Street, and a lane going off Church Street which is sparsely lit. From Bugbrooke: High Street, Badgers Close. (Info on website)

Resolution 101/16 Jan 2017Following discussion Council resolved that Cllrs, Flanagan and Bentley, plus Cllr Arnold, should visit a further 3 villages with similar characteristics to Pitsford.

Minutes 125/16 March 2017: Street lighting survey of villages similar to Pitsford. The Clerk provided Councillors with folders summarising research findings, queries and previous information provided. (The report can also be found in Parish Council/Documents/Lighting on the web site)

(The survey produced some illuminating comments, observations, reservations and feedback from other villages. The most concern was around lighting in conservation areas. More than one said that they were not aware of an option other than LED. Opinions on the black-white-black-whiteeffect of LED (Islip and Lilbourne). Some have pushed ahead, many are holding back because of thehigh expenditure and they want/need to be sure that they are making the right decision. Some older villages preferred the softer PLL lamps despite the fact that it is said that LED is cheaper to run. Boughton, chose special architectural heritage lamps within the conservation area because they felt that the modern lights were out of character.

Naseby offered to speak to anyone who would like to see the results of their lighting decision. They chose 22 watt LED at road junctions and 36 watt PLL at other village locations/footways.)

Cllrs Flanagan, Bentley and Arnold visited Yardley Gobion and will provide feedback for July meeting.

Council have heard and have been given technical detail in previous meetings.

The clerk has carried out a lot of research talking to many people, and manufacturers. One specialist,in answer to the questions on ‘colour and temperatures’ and on a particular lamp, gave a concise answer. Martin Medlock an Independent Lighting Technical Consultant but now working mostly with Balfour Beatty responded as follows:-

The LED Kirium Mini and the Indo Air 1 are both available in different colour temperatures. 4000K is neutral white and is the most common choice. Sometimes also referred to as natural white.

3000K is warm white and is less efficient than using 4000K. The warmer you go, the less efficient, the colder the more efficient. Most agree that cold white is not very comfortable to be in, but neutral white (4000K) is ok. Warm white is a softer lighting and may be more acceptable in residential areas.

The PL-L lamp is a compact fluorescent, a long lamp and therefore difficult to control where all of the light goes. They cast the light wider than LED. This means that you can see them better from a distance because of the light that escapes and is not directed at the ground. It is a warmer (softer) light, but LEDs may give a better distribution of light on the ground. The distribution of light on the ground is more important for highway lighting where you are looking for a specific level of illumination. For Parish Lighting you are not necessarily trying to achieve the same thing and it may be more about being able to see the next light along the route, rather than lighting the whole route to the same standard.

Borrowing Opportunitities There are opportunitites for borrowing. Many Councils have found with the Salix public sector funding opportunity they cannot meet the 5-year payback term. If you are just replacing SOX lamps with new lamps then there is a chance that this requirement will be met. However, where you have a project with capital costs, additional lighting, new poles etc., it is not possible to meet the terms of the loan.

Condition of the street lights in Pitsford:

It is important to cost the project as a whole in order to plan ahead andincludethe cost of repairs/replacements to the current equipment and be aware of the condition of the current lighting equipment.

In January Balfour Beatty attended to provide a visual survey of the footway lighting in Pitsford. Problems were highlighted such as: damaged and out of date brackets and control boxes which would need to be replaced. Poles which would have to/should be replaced and alternative positioning possibilities. Unfortunately, Balfour Beatty would have to instruct E.on to carry out this work which would mean extra charges if BB were commissioned to do the work.

In March E.on finally carried out a full survey of the lighting and equipment including suggested sites for additional lights where they may be required. The engineer concentrated on the conservation area and took into consideration lighting recommendations, distances etc., The remaining village areas have more modern lighting. Wherever there is a Western Power pole it is possible to site an extra light – subject to permission. The engineer has noted the positions in his survey. Additional lighting should involve consultation with residents.

E.on have the reputation of being exceedingly slow – this has been proven on this project. I have only just received the results since the survey in March and after much chasing. I have created a map of the conservation area and attach a table of costings and suggestions. E.on have used a COST figure and a BUDGET COST on an ‘anything’ lamp which includes an uplift for estimate pricing – a formal quotation should be obtained for a full and final quotation when the choice has been made and a programme agreed.

Notes: to the attached table:

Essential Repair (MBFU) Light 13 in Church Lane is an urgent repair, and not an easy one.

It has a concrete post which would have to be replaced in order to fit any new lamp. There has been a request to move the post down off the higher level. It does not currently contribute to lighting at street footway level. The Clerk has spoken to the nearby residents about possibly siting it at the bottom of the steps. There is limited space but they are happy that it would work. E.on have also suggested that it may be more suitably placed on the opposite side of the road which would be a little more expensive to get the supply connected. Clerk will speak with the residents again.

Lights 9, 34, 28, 21. Are also old MBFU lamps and in the interest of economy it may be sensible to consider replacing these first.

Suggested Improvements to Lighting from The Griffin to the Old Bakery SOX - very dark when The Griffin is closed

Light No. 10 In the gateway between Orchard Cottages. For many years it was a cost-saving policy to retain the pole when the mains lighting cables were removed. This light is set well back and therefore not particularly efficient in lighting the footway opposite. There is a BT pole next to the bus stop but BT are more than reluctant to allow lights on their poles, other than those already sited.

1) The suggestion is to replace the bus stop post with a new pole next to the BT pole, thereby bringing the light forward. The spill of light will depend on the type of lamp.

2) Alternatively, to install a new pole on the footpath on the opposite side of the road.

Upgrade of Remaining Existing lights in the Conservation Area.

Lights 19, 8, 20, 15

19 is the old street light opposite the Primary School. This lighting is now provided by NCC/Balfour Beatty. These lights are not LED they are the Ceramic Metal Halide lights that NCC use on their footway lighting. Quite bright enough for this section of roadway. They have suggested removing the old equipment.

8, 20, 15: See actions suggested. All other lights in this section would only require lamp change.

Suggestions for additional lighting positions -

The suggestions in this grouping are options for additional lamps and the associated costs. £1,479 is the cost including a new pole. You can cross reference the situations on the map provided. Blue dots are existing lights, white dots with alphabetic reference are suggestions.

The blue ‘splashes’ on the plan are where suggestions for additional lighting have been noted but there are no poles. So a decision on siting would need to be made if additional lighting is considered.