Τα νέα φώτα του δρόμου στο Cornwall

Invest to save programme

As part of a three year ‘invest to save’ programme which began in April 2009, street lights across Cornwall are being replaced and new adjustable bulbs installed.  The new heads are being  fitted to the existing columns and direct the light down towards the ground. Decorative and Victorian lights will be converted to accept the new equipment.

The new system will help reduce the impact of ever increasing energy costs. As well as saving money, it will reduce the council's carbon footprint and enable us to be much more flexible in the way we operate our street lighting systems.

The technology is brand new and allows the bulbs, which produce white light to give much better light quality, to be dimmed to different levels of light between 100%, 75%, 50%, 25% and completely off.  Unlike the lights we can dim at home, the new street lights use less electricity the dimmer they are. Domestic lights still use the same amount of energy no matter how dim the lights are.  The new lights even let the system know if there is a fault.

Supported by parish and town councils, the project will give local communities the chance to have their street lights dimmed on main roads or switched off between 12.30am and 5.30am in residential areas and have the lights automatically reacting to light levels between dusk and dawn in urban areas if they wish.

Once an area has the new system, Cornwall’s street lighting team will liaise with communities, through their parish councils, to help them decide what strength they would like their lights to be and when they would like them to be on. To help them decide initially, we will set a variety of lights at different strengths for everyone to be able to see the various effects. We may need to make several adjustments to find the ideal lighting for the community and parishes may try a series of combinations before settling on a final ideal solution.

The new system has several benefits to both individual communities and Cornwall as a whole.

• Communities will be able to influence how and when their streets will be lit.
• The new lights are easier to see by which will help to make people feel safer and they also provide better images on CCTV footage, which will help with crime and disorder.
• Over 25 years there will be an estimated £54m saving on the cost of running the 47,000 street lights across Cornwall.
• Our carbon footprint will be reduced by 60%, which is the UK’s target for carbon emissions by 2050. The new bulbs need less electricity to run, which uses less energy and produces less carbon.
• Star gazers will be able to enjoy the night sky as light pollution right across Cornwall will be reduced. The old lights spill light up as well as down and create an orange glow in the sky - known as skyglow - which will be removed by the new lights.