Switching streetlights off late at night, or not...

[Carole]

I just found this post on SGL:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programme...ht/9173729.stm

Many councils are turning off street lights as a means of saving money, BBC Newsnight has learned. Of 75 councils it spoke to in England and Wales, 32 said they would turn some lights off, nine are dimming lights and 14 considering street light cutbacks.
There are is no statutory obligation for councils to light the streets and flicking the switch is a cost-effective option in a time of austerity cuts.
But a charity is warning it could leave people with sight problems vulnerable.
RP Fighting Blindness, which works with one in 3,000 people who suffer retinitis pigmentosa - or night blindness - said it would put them at risk of street crime.
Newsnight contacted 75 councils in England and Wales and asked if they were scaling back street lighting.
Of those we spoke to 32 said they were turning off some lights, nine were opting for dimming lights, 14 were considering changes while 20 had no plans to alter levels of street lighting.
Below is a full breakdown of the councils we contacted.

COUNCILS TURNING OFF SOME STREET LIGHTS
Dorset
Southwark
Suffolk
Buckinghamshire
North Somerset and Bristol
Nottinghamshire
Powys
Gloucestershire
Bath and North East Somerset
Peterborough City Council
Shropshire
Devon
Rutland County
Telford and Wrekin
Leicestershire
Stockton-on-Tees Borough
South Gloucestershire
Bridgend
Blaenau Gwent
Conwy
Pembrokeshire
Isle of Anglesey
Carmarthenshire
Ceredigion
Newport
Torfaen
Durham
Central Bedfordshire
Borough of Poole
Cornwall
East Sussex
West Sussex

COUNCILS DIMMING SOME STREET LIGHTS
Redcar & Cleveland Borough
Nottingham City Council
Plymouth City Council
Slough Borough
Southampton City Council
Monmouthshire
Hampshire
Lincolnshire
Surrey

COUNCILS CONSIDERING SWITCHING OFF/DIMMING LIGHTS
North Lincolnshire
North Yorkshire
Swindon Borough
Southend-on-Sea Borough
Brent
Neath Port Talbot County Borough
Cardiff
Gwynedd
Derbyshire
Kent
Hertfordshire
Worcestershire
Oxfordshire
Warwickshire

COUNCILS NOT PLANNING CHANGES TO STREET LIGHTING
Northumberland
Portsmouth City Council
Reading Borough
Barking and Dagenham
Stoke-on-Trent City Council
Luton
Conwy
Denbighshire
Milton Keynes
Isle of Wight
Blackpool Borough
Halton
Medway
City of York
East Riding
North East Lincolnshire
Lancashire
Northamptonshire
Cambridgeshire
Cumbria Staffordshire

[Mike]

No mention of Bromley in any of that

[Carole]

No mention of Bromley in any of that

No, but Kent is considering it.  I guess that unless London decides to do cut lighting it won;t make much difference to us in Bromley, but might make the DSC camps even better.

Also, might "catch on".

Carole

[Rocket Pooch]

Yay for West Sussex.

[Carole]

Yay for West Sussex.

Jammy so and sos.

[Fay]

I think I will mail Bromley

[Carole]

I think I will mail Bromley

Send me a copy of the address Fay and I'll send one too.

Carole

[Mac]

Yay for West Sussex.

Oh well it will mean even darker skies 

Fingers crossed they dont go down the route of the ultra modern led lighting
as you cant filter that stuff out, being broad spectrum lighting.
At least you can filter the current light pollution.

Mac.

[Carole]

A bit more news, shame it's not applicable to anywhere near Bromley/Orpington, but might "catch on", or at least might help our DSCs.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2012755/Street-lights-switched-HALF-Britain.html

Carole

[mickw]

I wonder how the power companies will replace their lost revenue 

[Fay]

i read this article last week & there was no mention of Kent.....yet

[MarkS]

Just think how dark RV and HH will be if Kent switches out the lights

[Carole]

Perhaps we should switch DSCs to West Sussex in the light of this (pun  )
Carole

[Whitters]

Uckfield lights going off this month

[JohnP]

I think I will mail Bromley

Fay - did you ever contact Bromley council on this issue?