Sidmouth has cast iron street lamps. In conservation areas, the tops of these have been replaced with energy efficient LED systems. Devon County Council are removing others around the town and replacing them entirely with modern aluminium posts. I would like to know three things:
1. What is the cost of replacing the tops of the lamp posts only (with led systems)?
Devon County Council’s view is that it would not be in the public interest to share this information. This is because sharing this information could jeopardise our ability as a purchasing authority to achieve best value for money.
Therefore, we are withholding this information in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, Section 43(2): Information is exempt information if its disclosure under this Act would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person (including the public authority holding it).
2. How much does it cost to replace an entire post with a new one (for everything)?
Devon County Council’s view is that it would not be in the public interest to share this information. This is because sharing this information could jeopardise our ability as a purchasing authority to achieve best value for money.
Therefore, we are withholding this information in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, Section 43(2): Information is exempt information if its disclosure under this Act would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person (including the public authority holding it).
3. Is there any energy efficiency gain in having totally new lamp posts vs upcycling the original traditional posts?
The new lanterns achieve efficiency savings in both cost and energy. For example:
- The new lanterns require less maintenance e.g. fewer site visits, longer lasting components, less frequent painting etc.
- The new lanterns include our ‘Telensa’ system which enables the timings and brightness of the lamps to be adjusted, thus saving both energy and cost
- The new columns include LED lanterns which use significantly less energy.
4. If so, how much does this equate to per annum?
Devon County Council does not hold this information because it is difficult to quantify this with regards to single locations. In the interests of providing advice and assistance, we can say that across Devon as a whole we have broadly halved our energy consumption resulting from street lighting since the 2015/16 financial year. This is as a result of the switch to LED lanterns and the introduction of part-night lighting amongst other measures.