Part 1 The introduction of LED Street lighting and Health and other assessment
|
1) Introduction of LED street lighting a) Has your council introduced any LED street lighting over the past 5 years? If yes please explain why it was introduced. Yes, to provide energy savings and reduce CO2 emissions whilst reducing maintenance. b) Were residents consulted before the LED street lighting was introduced? If yes, please supply us with copies of all reports on the consultation and associated papers? No. c) Did the council pilot the introduction of LED street lighting in any areas? If yes, please supply us with a copy of the evaluation of the pilot sites. No. The LED conversion has been undertaken in stages with main roads largely undertaken first as higher wattage and greater energy reduction d) Has the council had complaints about LED street lighting? If so, please let us know the number of complaints each year, and a breakdown of the reasons for the complaints, if available. Yes, Devon County Council (DCC) has received complaints, but these cover a wide range of street lighting issues not just LEDs. To locate, retrieve and extract those complaints pertaining to just LED lighting for the time period specified would take a large amount of time, as each complaint would need to be manually reviewed to extract this information. Given the time already expended on responding to this request, we deem this additional work to be Manifestly Unreasonable under Regulation 12(4)(b) of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. |
|
2) Health and other assessments a) Did the council conduct research into the safety and user acceptability of LED street lighting? Yes. All street lighting purchased and introduced by DCC meets standards with relevant CE markings, therefore indicating compliance with EU legislation, they are also purchased from reputable manufacturers within the lighting industry. A significant proportion of funding came from DfT which was encouraging the introduction of LED to save energy. b) Did the council undertake a health impact assessment prior to introducing LED street lighting? Yes. An assessment of relevant luminaires was made to ensure that the compliance referred to above (2a) was met. c) Did the council undertake a disability impact assessment prior to introducing LED street lighting? No, but it has since undertaken an impact assessment on its new policy position from January 2019 which includes LED – see Devon web site under Impact Assessments, Street Lighting d) Did the council carry out an Equality Impact Assessment, for example to ensure that older people are not disadvantaged by such lighting? Please see our response to (c) above e) How did the council ensure that the introduction of LED street lighting met its obligations under the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) to ensure that it did not cause discrimination? The Council ensured that all materials were sourced from reputable companies with the required CE (European Conformity) markings. f) Did the council carry out an EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment)? Please see our response to (c) above. g) Did the council assess the impact on protected species (e.g. bats) and what steps (if any) were taken to ensure that the chosen LED specification satisfied the statutory duties relating to biodiversity. If yes please supply LightAware copies of relevant documentation. Yes. As and when required or made aware of protected species such as bats, this is taken into consideration as part of the lighting design. Reference is made to the Institute of Lighting Professionals guidance on Bats and Lighting in the UK, this can be found on the Institute of Lighting Professionals (ILP) website and on the Bat Conservation Trust website Bats and Artificial Lighting Guidance – also please refer to our response to (c) above. h) How does the council take into account the sensitivities of residents with sensitivities to LED street lighting, e.g. people suffering from migraines, lupus and autism? Please describe the process. As and when such a case is brought to our attention and if it is felt that the Authority can assist by changing the local street lighting then this will be considered, for example with shields. If the answer is yes to any of the questions a) to g), please supply a copy of the relevant council papers and assessments. |
Part 2 Investment in LED street lighting
|
3) How much has the council invested in LED street lighting in each of the past five financial years? £10m of Department for Transport (DfT) Challenge Fund money, and £2.9m of DCC funds from 2015-2019. |
|
4) How was the LED street lighting funded in 2017/18? Please indicate funding from each source. 1) Green investment bank? None. 2) Public works loan board? None. 3) Prudential borrowing? None. 4) Revenue to capital? None. 5) Other (please specify) – Yes – Department for Transport (DfT) Challenge Fund and Devon County Council self-funded. |
|
5) How many streetlights in the current council area are currently (as of 30 June 2019)? Approximate figures would suffice. · Low Pressure Sodium discharge lamps – 0 · The high-pressure sodium lamps – 32,000 · Metal Halide – 21,000 · LED – 25,000 · Other please specify – 0 |
|
6) Of the LED streetlights how many are: · Phosphor-Converted Amber (PCA) LED Street Lamps? 0 · Narrow-Band Amber (NBA) LED Street Lamps? 0 |
|
7) Colour temperature of LED street lighting. Of the currently installed street lighting please let us know the number in the following correlated colour temperature categories: · Under 3000 degrees kelvin – 0 · 3000 – 3999 degrees kelvin – planned future LED replacement in residential areas, will amount to approx. 45,000 (as 3000K) · 4000 degrees kelvin and higher – approx. 25,000 (at 4000K) |
|
8) Glare and flicker – What steps (if any) the authority has taken to mitigate the known and serious problems (relating to health and road and public safety) of glare and flicker that are associated with LED street lighting. · How many of the installed LED streetlights are flicker free? All of them · How does the council monitor that they remain flicker free? Replacement stock uses the same non-flicker LED equipment. · How many of the installed LED streetlights have unshielded LED chips? Shields are installed as requested on site, numbers are not known at this moment in time. Information not held. |
Part 3 Planned investment in LED street lighting
|
9) How much has/ does the council plan to invest in LED street lighting in each of the following financial years? · 2018/19 – £0 · 2019/20 – £1.7 million · 2020/21 – £4 million |
|
10) How does the council plan to fund this investment? · Green investment bank? – 0 · Public works loan board? – 0 · Prudential borrowing? – 0 · Revenue to capital? – 0 · Other (please specify? – Self funded |
|
11) Of the current streetlights in your council area (see question 5), how many do you plan to replace over the next 3 years? · Low Pressure Sodium discharge lamps · The high-pressure sodium lamps · Metal Halide · LED · Other please specify It is planned to convert all remaining street lighting to energy efficient LED luminaires |
|
12) What do you plan to replace them with? If the replacements are LED let us know the number in the following colour temperature categories: · Under 3000 degrees kelvin – · 3000 – 3999 degrees kelvin – future LED installation in residential areas planned to be 3000 degrees Kelvin · 4000 degrees kelvin and higher |
|
13) In undertaking this investment has the council taken into account recent reports on the health and safety of LED lighting produced by · The EU SCHHER report on potential risks to human health of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs)? see link https://ec.europa.eu/health/sites/health/files/scientific_committees/scheer/docs/scheer_o_011.pdf · The latest EU guidance on the procurement of LED street lighting? see link https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/publication/eur-scientific-and-technical-research-reports/revision-eu-green-public-procurement-criteria-road-lighting-and-traffic-signals · The French public health institute (ANSES) report on effects on human health and the environment (fauna and flora) of systems using light-emitting diodes (LEDs)? see link https://www.anses.fr/en/system/files/AP2014SA0253EN.pdf No, not directly, but the EU Public Procurement Guidance has generally been followed with a requirement for all products to be CE (European Conformity) marked.
|