“Having just driven through a foggy unlit Wembury village I can’t help but note the risk to pedestrians with unlit streets.
Can I please have a copy of the risk assessment that was carried out before the decision was taken to introduce part-night lighting to a coastal village which is susceptible to sea fog.
Generic risk assessments are carried out as standard, but no specific risk assessment was carried out in relation to Wembury, as none was required. A decision was made after public consultation around 2008 to convert street lighting in Devon to Part Night Lighting (PNL). These lights where made PNL in 2011. To our knowledge, this is the first time that sea fog in Wembury has been brought to our attention. Part night lighting was introduced as an energy and carbon saving measure.
Can I please have details of the timings that are used in Wembury for part-night lighting. Your website states ‘The hours that some streetlights are on will be changed from all-night long to lighting between dusk and about 12:30 am and again from about 5:30 am until dawn’.
In order to deliver the saving with PNL the only technology available in 2011 was a device set to switch off at around 12:30 AM GMT and back on again at around 05:30 GMT. As our solar cells only have a GMT time clock, from March to October there is an hour difference, but this has little effect, save from the short period leading up to when the clocks change.
I see the circumstances where part-night lighting will be rescinded are only based on ‘High crime’. This morning I note that pedestrians are having to carry torches to have a higher element of safety, what priority is given to safety over crime?
Part night lighting has been slowly implemented throughout the county since 2008 and is under constant review. Street lighting does not extend to every location within Devon so there will be areas where pedestrians will have to provide some form of lighting to aid themselves. Private pathways are not generally lit so anyone walking in the dark would be advised to carry a torch at all times.
If the driver for the policy is cost and carbon savings, how many (by percentage) of the existing street lights in the Wembury parish are fitted with the filaments which cost less to run and have the minimum carbon footprint?”
Wembury parish has approximately 190 street lights and over the years these have been replaced with the most efficient filaments available. The conversion to part night has delivered significant savings of around 30%. Not all of the street lights are part night in Wembury, with about 12 street lights remaining on throughout the whole night. At present, Devon County Council are replacing approximately 25,000 street lights out of its 89,000 street lights with energy efficient lights with up to 60% energy and carbon savings. Most of the main roads in Devon have high wattage, all night, lighting, so when considering reducing energy, these lights have been made priority areas when considering replacements. As and when lights near their end of life in residential areas they also will be replaced with more efficient lighting; maybe sooner if grants become available.