In cooperation with South Gloucestershire County Council, Charfield Parish Council has agreed to investigate the possibility of reducing street lighting in Charfield. This initiative is proposed to explore the possibility of reducing energy consumption, saving year on year lighting costs, and reducing light pollution. Similar trials have been very successful in Gloucestershire and other counties and indeed Gloucestershire County Council is rolling the project out to 70 parishes over the next year or two.
Street light reduction is an emotive issue, and you will no doubt have many concerns and questions. To that end Charfield Parish Council intends to present the initiative to parishioners as part of the Annual Parish Meeting, which will be on Thursday 19th March 2009. The Council would not involve Charfield in any trial if it felt the parishioners of Charfield would not be supportive of it. However, if you do have strong opinions please do let the Clerk know.
May 6th 2009. The Consultation Period ended on April 27th with no adverse comment from the Parish. Individuals randomly questioned by Councillors were fully supportive 0f the intiative, and the Parish will shortly meet again with the County Council to determine the way ahead.
The Council intends to put as much information on this site as it can. As parishioners, councillors and external authorities raise new issues we’ll place them in this space. We intend that you have sufficient information to understand the issues, and we’ll be working with you.
So, what is this all about? Really. What are the benefits, what are the risks?
CHARFIELD STREET LIGHTING INTIATIVE – THE FAQ (last update 04.04.2009)
- why are we being asked to reduce street lighting?
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The answer is three-fold. The cash cost to South Gloucestershire of the county’s streetlights is £1.1M. This cost will inevitably increase over the next decade as energy costs rise. Not unrelated to energy consumption, the carbon footprint of South Gloucestershire’s lighting amount to 6259 kg of CO2 per year. South Gloucestershire is committed to an overall year on year carbon reduction of 3% and partial street lighting will make a significant contribution to this. Finally, we are seeking to reduce light pollution. Time was, the nighttime cityscape was bathed in an orange glow, nowadays that star-obscuring smear extends well into the rural environment. Charfield itself has become more ‘orange’ in the past ten years… the intent is to make it more ‘green’, and return the stars to Charfield.
. - but won’t it make Charfield vulnerable to burglaries and assaults?
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This is a strongly felt and seemingly obvious fear. However, the facts do not bear out the fear. Trials in other areas comparable to Charfield have not found an increase in crime. Opinion suggests that criminals actually like nighttime lighting, as it’s far easier to break in without making a noise, tripping up or getting lost – and there’s mostly no-one about to see them whether it’s light or dark! We’ve put some links to external evidence, anecdotal and statistical, at the foot of this item. There have, however, been isolated issues, and it would not be fair to hide these from you. Links to these stories are there too. The police are represented on the streetlighting initiative working group, and their input has been incorporated into the trial.
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LINKS
Gloucestershire Council Lighting Reductions
IEMA report on Nailsworth ‘part-night’ trials
M4 lights to go ‘part-night’
Gazette Report on the Charfield Trials
. - so when will some lights be going out?
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Those lights that are selected for partial switch-off will be fitted with timers, set to switch each light on and off at set times inside the period covered by the normal dusk to dawn sensors. The switch off time would be midnight or shortly thereafter. The switch on would be five thirty. You can see therefore that for most people there would effectively be no change. No-one will be walking home from the pub in the dark, no-one likely to be walking the dog, very little traffic on the roads… In fact the only people likely to notice are light sleepers who may notice the lights going off and on, shift workers, and folk on 24 hour callout (like the Parish Council Chairman!).
. - will all the lights go out?
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Definitely not. Currently there are 276 lights in Charfield. At least 110 of these are in positions which must remain lit, for reasons set out in South Gloucestershire’s policy (LINK). These include the B4508 Wotton Road, much of Little Bristol Lane and Charfield Green, and lights covering the enclosed footpaths in the estates. South Gloucestershire Street Care Unit has provided a map (LINK) of Charfield marked with streetlights, and they’ve highlighted those that must remain lit (red for policy, blue for other reasons) and those that can be considered for the trial (yellow). The map is a 2MB download, so if you require a paper copy please contact the Clerk.
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Update: a few streetlights have moved from ‘switch off’ to ‘remain on’ following the Parish Meeting of 19th March 2009. The linked Map has been updated.
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Update: legal advice informs that the 30mph zone remains in force even if all the streetlights in the zone are unlit. Therefore the map has been updated to part-light those lamps which previously remained lit for that reason.
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Update May 6th 2009. Seven lighting columns were moved to all-night lighting due to proximity to adjacent enclosed footpaths. The Map is at Revision D.
. - what if a light marked as available for the trial is important to me?
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Charfield Parish Council is here working for and with you, and seeks to represent your views. If a particular light ought not to be switched off it’s probable it can remain, either as an ‘extra’ light or perhaps by turning off another (blue) nearby light instead. However, we can’t guess which lights these might be and so it is imperative you let us know, by email or letter to the Clerk, before the expiration of the Consultation period.
. - what is the time frame for this trial? when will it start and how long will it run?
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South Gloucestershire hope to begin this trial in May 2009. If the trial is successful it will essentially remain and become permanent. The minimum period is probably at least a year, in order to obtain information for the whole calendar year. The S Glos project plan is here
. - why was Charfield chosen? what if we say no to this trial?
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Streetlighting reduction in other parishes, in Gloucestershire, became known to the Council and the Chairman, who sought comment from South Gloucestershire of their own policy on this matter. South Gloucestershire were already developing their streetlighting policy, which would inevitably need trialling in a rural parish, and so they asked Charfield. If Charfield had not expressed an interest, South Gloucestershire would have opined every parish in the county and perhaps run the trial elsewhere. Then once the initiative had been proved it would have been rolled out to Charfield anyway. We have the opportunity to fine tune the trial, to help set the ground-rules.
