There are 9,000 town and parish councils in England and approximately 80% of them represent populations under 2,500. These parish councils have powers to provide some local facilities themselves, and these facilities can include lighting.
Parish councils can find themselves faced with a quandary: they want to provide the best they can for their residents, but they have a limited budget to draw on.
At Altitude Services, we specialise in LED external lighting, and we know that this can provide small parish councils with high quality street lighting that is extremely cost-effective.
This is a service we recently provided for the parish council representing the villages of Lowick and Slipton, in East Northamptonshire.
Local Lightings Needs
Parish councils represent the local community, and are there to meet local needs, which includes delivering certain services and fostering a sense of community wellbeing by finding ways to improve local people’s quality of life.
Funding for these activities comes from a precept from within the local council tax.
As small, administrative bodies, parish councils do not have unlimited funds at their disposal, so getting the most out of their money is a critical consideration.
What matters to many residents in these small areas is their environment, and feeling safe, secure and welcome in it.
In this context, street lighting is very much a public good. Its benefits include reductions in crime and on-street accidents, as well as being an identifiable amenity providing feelings of warmth and security.
However, historically, most street lighting has been based on low pressure sodium lights, which give off a uniform orange glow.
This may be at odds with issues of combating light pollution in more rural areas, and therefore can be seen as a loss of amenity value.
There is also the cost of installation and maintenance to consider.
The obvious solution is LED street lighting.
The Benefits of LED Street Lighting
LEDs have extremely long lifespans, and with filaments which will not quickly burn out, they represent a cost-effective street lighting investment.
An LED lamp can last up to 100,000 hours, which also means these street lights have much reduced maintenance costs.
This is a distinct advantage for more remote areas, where fitting LEDs can then mean replacing light bulbs is not an issue.
LED street lights give off less heat than other bulbs, making them far more energy efficient.
Then there is the quality of light that LEDs emit. They produce directional light, rather than a diffused glow. This means LEDs can direct light in specific areas, and can also be dimmed where required.
For areas where light pollution is a concern, these lights allow for a more sensitive, controlled approach to street lighting, helping to maintain the essential character of an environment.
In a time where budgets are squeezed, but where building and maintaining a sense of community are more important than ever before, LED streetlighting could be the perfect solution for parish councils.
Certainly, the Parish Council at Lowick and Slipton had benefitted from the speed and flexibility of our LED street lighting installation.
Find Out More
Altitude Services provides outdoor lighting solutions, including amenity and public realm lighting. This is a complete end to end service, from design through to completion and maintenance.
To find out more, please call us on 01282 450525, or complete our online enquiry form, and we will be in touch as soon as we can.
