County’s 50,000 street lights may be replaced with LED technology

MORE THAN 50,000 traditional street lights in North Yorkshire could be replaced with a more sustainable option.

Senior North Yorkshire County councillors are set to consider a report on the business case for replacing all the county’s street lights with new LED technology over the next three years. There are already a number of LED street lights operating across the county where the original lights have been replaced due to faults.

Council chiefs said the authority maintains 50,400 streetlights, which cost around £2.1m to power and £1.2m to maintain every year.

The new LED equipment would cost about 40 per cent or £840,000 less to power. The proposals will be discussed by North Yorkshire County Council’s executive members on September 26.

County Councillor Don Mackenzie, executive member for highways, said: “LED streetlights have many benefits over conventional options.

“For a start, they are more environmentally friendly, as they can play a significant part in reducing carbon emissions. They also use far less energy and come on instantly without a warm-up period.

“As well as these significant environmental benefits, they are also very cost effective to run, a factor which we must consider as we continue to provide our residents with quality services despite having to manage reduced budgets. “Lamp replacement costs are lower and maintenance visits are usually only needed every six years.

“In a large, mainly rural area such as North Yorkshire this would be a great benefit to residents in outlying, hard-to-reach areas.”