Part-night lighting scheme could be extended to more towns and villages including Chipping Sodbury (From Gazette Series)

Part-night lighting scheme in South Gloucestershire could be extended to Chipping Sodbury, Cold Ashton, Tormarton and Westerleigh

11:49am Friday 8th February 2013 in News By Alexandra Womack

TURNING off street lights in a number of towns and villages including Chipping Sodbury could help save the district £250,000.

In the past five years South Gloucestershire Council has successfully introduced part-night lighting schemes in several places, reducing the authority’s carbon emissions and cutting energy bills by £90,000 a year.

Now, consultations to extend the scheme in Badminton, Cold Ashton, Tormarton, Westerleigh, Chipping Sodbury, Dyrham and Hinton and Little Sodbury are underway and the council is asking people whether turning off the lights between midnight and 5am in those locations would be welcomed.

Head of StreetCare, Mark King, said about 6,000 of the district’s 29,500 street lights have been switched to part-night operation since 2008.

"Part-night lighting has been introduced gradually and with great care since the policy was first adopted with cross-party support in 2008," said Mr King. "The safety and security of residents and road users is paramount and over a number of years we ran trials to make sure that the scheme would deliver the expected benefits without any adverse effects.

"The results to date show that part-night lighting is working well in South Gloucestershire and we look forward to completing implementation of the scheme later this year."

The council is looking to implement part-night lighting in 60 per cent ofthe district’s street lights, or approximately 20,000 lights, by October, with those places currently under consultation seeing the switch off take place as early as March.

Once fully implemented, the scheme is expected to reduce the district’s carbon emissions by a total of 2,000 tonnes a year – equivalent to the annual emissions of approximately 900 cars.

It is also expected to reduce the council’s lighting-related energy bills by up to £250,000, or about a fifth of its total street lighting energy costs.

The council said all lights are assessed and 40 per cent, including those lights near roundabouts, emergency services, sheltered housing and known areas of high crime, are automatically excluded from the scheme for safety or security reasons.

To comment on current consultations, email consultation@southglos.gov.uk by February 25. Full details of the scheme are available at www.southglos.gov.uk/partnightlighting