New warm white streetlights more than stab in the dark

Carole Page is not just any crazy cat lady – she goes for a walk on the wild side every day.

She was retired and looking for a hobby when she come across a picture of a Bengal cat on the internet. That was eight years ago, and Page has since bred dozens of the breed, which was first bred from an Asian leopard cat and a large domestic cat not quite 30 years ago.

‘‘I thought, ‘Good grief, I’m going to end up with 3000 Bengals and be a crazy cat lady’,’’ Page said. ‘‘So I thought, ‘Oh well, I’ll make it legitimate and I’ll breed them.’

‘‘A lot of the Bengals that first came over, their nature wasn’t great. They were really quite dangerous sometimes – they could bring down small dogs and children.’’

One of her champion Bengals, Wild While the rest of the country is getting harsh white street lights, the Waikato’s will be warm and welcoming.

Over 15,000 street lamps, custom-made by Philips, are being installed around the Waikato, replacing the old-school orange lights.

About half are already in place and the rest are expected to be in by the end of the year.

While other districts have LED lamps, they are a harsh, cool-white tone. Hamilton and the Waikato are the first to have ‘‘warm white’’ lights.

The warm white colour was an initiative by Hamilton City Council and Waikato District Council and will reduce spillover glare into houses and be less harsh on the eyes. Mariner A Whiter Shade of Pale, known as Latte when he’s not on show duty, is napping in his cage at the annual Nine Lives Cat Show in Hamilton. He has a pelt-like coat that’s luxurious and soft – it’s what you imagine stroking a leopard would be like.

Page has some of the best Bengals in New Zealand, but it’s taken time to get there.

‘‘Those little leopardy genes strike up every now and then,’’ she said. ‘‘It doesn’t matter how true to type a kitten is – it could be absolutely perfect, but if they’re scattery and nervous, you just have to pass or rehome them.’’

The early imports were smudgy-spotty, she said, and didn’t have that leopard look. ‘‘That’s why I imported so many in the first place, because I wanted to do it right.’’

Bengal kittens typically sell for $1200 to

$1500, and a breeding cat can go for $5000 to $8000. Page has a floating population of

12 to 15 girls (known as queens) and a standing population of four boys.

The project, costing $7.2 million, is funded by New Zealand Transport Agency, with contributions by both councils.

The LED (light emitting diode) lights use about 60 per cent less power than the old street lights. And they also save on maintenance costs as LED bulbs have a much longer life. The street lights come with a 10-year warranty.

It is expected Hamilton will save over

$250,000 in reduced power and maintenance costs in the first year and almost

$550,000 in 2019/20.

Operations manager for infrastructure alliance Shaun Peterson said it was an opportunity HCC grabbed when NZTA offered an 85 per cent subsidy.

Some Hamilton street lights were over

20 years old and needed replacing.

He said HCC did research and trials and found other regions didn’t like the cool white tone. People preferred warm white – it was less harsh and provided a better spread of light.

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