Street lighting.

[Deleted member 16999]

It's not meant to be lighter. It offers clearer light, cheaper to run, the bulbs last longer and the light is targeted downwards instead of polluting all around. It lights the area it is meant to light, not everywhere else as well.

I understand all the good intentions, but in the colliery village housing it has now made many light places very dark, resident’s peace of mind that the gardens were illuminated has changed to dark places for scum

 

[Bunkermagnet]

Why though is it the councils responsibility to illuminate someone's property?
Personally I have no issue with the newer and cheaper to run street lights, or the local authorities descision to try and reduce running costs by reducing the number of street lights on. Their budgets are not bottomless, and sadly choices have to be made.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

I'm with BM on this one. If you want your garden illuminated then that is up to you. Put in motion sensor lights that trigger when things pass by. We have them on our driveway to light up the front of the house in winter when we come in when it is dark. Cheap to buy.

Equally there are plenty of people who did not want their bedrooms, gardens, living rooms etc lit up which is what happened with the old street lights. Now the lights work on the paths and the roads only, as they should.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

I'm with BM on this one. If you want your garden illuminated then that is up to you. Put in motion sensor lights that trigger when things pass by. We have them on our driveway to light up the front of the house in winter when we come in when it is dark. Cheap to buy.

Equally there are plenty of people who did not want their bedrooms, gardens, living rooms etc lit up which is what happened with the old street lights. Now the lights work on the paths and the roads only, as they should.

Local coppers also prefered it as was far better for patrols, it’s worked fine for 40-50 years let’s not pretend this is nothing more than a cost cutting exercise.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

Local coppers also prefered it as was far better for patrols, it’s worked fine for 40-50 years let’s not pretend this is nothing more than a cost cutting exercise.

It may well be, but we all know that money is in short supply with local authorities and they need to make adjustments somewhere.
I know I would rather the old folks were looked after better than lighting the streets as they were.

 

[USER1999]

The leds last longer, and are cheaper to run. They are expensive to buy though. Colourwise, 5000k is bright white, 4000k is ok, and 3000k is like halogen, a dirty yellowish light. You can chose.

A lot of the 5000k ones will need to be replaced, as they are viewed to be unfriendly to wildlife. The EU may yet legislate on this.

4000k is probably the way forwards.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

Try Surrey. As an austerity measure they're looking to turn them all off at midnight to save on the electricity.

https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/roads-a...-signals-and-signs/part-night-street-lighting

That's because all the suburban wife swapping parties are finished by then and everyone is back home in their own beds :thup:

 

[Deleted member 16999]

It may well be, but we all know that money is in short supply with local authorities and they need to make adjustments somewhere.
I know I would rather the old folks were looked after better than lighting the streets as they were.

It’s the old people that are now living in fear,
My MiL lived in a street with lots of elderley neighbours, before if she/they heard a noise outside in the dark they could not only see their own garden they could see 3-4 gardens either side, it’s proved helpful in the past as they could help each other and at least twice in the last 8 years prevented a burglary taking place, now depending on were the street lamps sit you can either see your own garden if it’s the garden with the light or the neighbours garden with the light, nothing left or right of the lamp
None of the residents like them and has them scared at times.
The answer for some is to phone the Warden service or police everytime they hear a noise.

Yes Lord T the MiL had a pir on her property.

I agree local authorities need to save money, but maybe they should speak to residents before imposing changes that effect their lives and impact on other areas

 

[Bunkermagnet]

It’s the old people that are now living in fear,
My MiL lived in a street with lots of elderley neighbours, before if she/they heard a noise outside in the dark they could not only see their own garden they could see 3-4 gardens either side, it’s proved helpful in the past as they could help each other and at least twice in the last 8 years prevented a burglary taking place, now depending on were the street lamps sit you can either see your own garden if it’s the garden with the light or the neighbours garden with the light, nothing left or right of the lamp
None of the residents like them and has them scared at times.
The answer for some is to phone the Warden service or police everytime they hear a noise.

Yes Lord T the MiL had a pir on her property.

I agree local authorities need to save money, but maybe they should speak to residents before imposing changes that effect their lives and impact on other areas

I understand where you're coming from, but it would be better all round if the family members of said old folks each put up some sort of security lighting in their familiy members gardens so if their light is activated the fellow neighbours can see whats doing. Sadly somehting has to give in the current situation, and street lighting is probably an expensive but easy to reduce cost burden across the board.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

I understand where you're coming from, but it would be better all round if the family members of said old folks each put up some sort of security lighting in their familiy members gardens so if their light is activated the fellow neighbours can see whats doing. Sadly somehting has to give in the current situation, and street lighting is probably an expensive but easy to reduce cost burden across the board.

Agree with the sentiment mate, unfortunately still lots of lonely old folk out there.
No easy answers either way.

 

[The Autumn Wind]

Street lighting does indeed seem poorer these days, due to austerity cuts I'm quite sure.

However, the recent improvement in car headlights is brilliant. Compared to old halogen headlights, xenon headlights were a great improvement. But now I have upgraded further to dynamic LED headlights which are even better and give fantastic vision on the roads at night. Highly recommended.

 

[jim8flog]

When they decided to leave the lights on all night where I live it cost me over £200 for new blackout curtains!!

 

[bobmac]

The street lights where I live are now turned off between 12 and 6am to save money.
The 4% increase in council tax this year just rubbed our noses in it.

Might be because the councillors voted themselves a 23% pay rise recently.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

The street lights where I live are now turned off between 12 and 6am to save money.
The 4% increase in council tax this year just rubbed our noses in it.

Might be because the councillors voted themselves a 23% pay rise recently.

I have no issue with our streetlights being off between midnight and 6am - but cutbacks in community recycling centre facilities just seems very shortsighted and are a real disincentive when you want to do the right think on recycling

 

[dewsweeper]

Does it matter about street lighting these days.
Most motorists seem to have both headlights and foglights on all the time?

 

[Old Skier]

Street lighting does indeed seem poorer these days, due to austerity cuts I'm quite sure.

However, the recent improvement in car headlights is brilliant. Compared to old halogen headlights, xenon headlights were a great improvement. But now I have upgraded further to dynamic LED headlights which are even better and give fantastic vision on the roads at night. Highly recommended.

Unless your in the car heading towards you.

 

[chellie]

Unless your in the car heading towards you.

Yes, I am sick to death of being blinded by headlights around here. Also, the lights are so dull that you are unaware of road turnings until your more or less on top of them now.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

I would say its probably not the headlights that blind you, but the daytime running lights that seem to have got so much brighter and are on the whole times the ignition is running.
My VW van has DRL's, but they are only 21w filament bulbs and are switched off when the main headlamps are on. My new car (Mazda) has DRL's that are LED's and are on the whole time the ignition is on. Thankfully they arent as eye killing as Citroens and some other brands. It also has LED headlamps, and the light perfomance is miles better than the halogen bulbs in my van, which now to me look just like a pair of candles with the light output and colour they emit.