Village Part-Night Lighting Trial

This autumn the Parish Council is to undertake a three-month lighting trial that will see 88 streetlights under its control switched off from midnight to 5am, and 7 more decommissioned.

A review will undertaken at the end of the trial to determine whether the switch should become permanent.

It is expected part-night lighting will help the Parish Council cope with rising energy costs and make progress on its commitment to tackle the climate emergency.

 

Energy costs

The Parish Council has set aside over £23,000 in its 2023/4 budget to meet the routine annual costs for lighting in the village. Unless efforts are made to reduce energy consumption, this figure will likely have to rise in the future as our existing energy contracts expire.

Converting lights to LED and installing timers will allow the Parish Council to make some of the energy savings needed. It is estimated that LED lanterns will be up to 80% more efficient than the current lighting stock. Streetlights that are turned off for part of the night could see a further 50% reduction in energy consumption.

 

Carbon cuts

In June 2022 the Parish Council joined many other organisations and authorities in declaring a climate emergency.

Switching to timed LED streetlights will help our community play its part in fighting global warming.

In Spring the Parish Council received £34,900 from the district council under its Zero-Carbon fund. This money will help pay for the conversion of over 104 of our streetlights to LED. The grant, however, is conditional on the Parish Council introducing a part-night lighting scheme.

It is also dependent on steps being taken to eliminate any duplicate lighting around Stansted. Seven such lights – those seen as doing the same job as a nearby light – will be withdrawn from service as part of the trial.

 

Lights to be switched to part-night lighting

You can find out if lights in your street are to be turned off part of the night for the trial by heading to the Finance & General Purposes document section of this website.

 

About the trial

Will all streetlights be included in the trial?

Responsibility for streetlighting in Stansted Mountfitchet is shared between Essex Highways, Uttlesford District Council and Stansted Mountfitchet Parish Council. Only streetlights maintained by the Parish Council will be involved in the trial. Of these 242 streetlights, 149 will remain lit all night throughout the trial.

How were lights chosen for inclusion in the trial?

Where possible the Parish Council has tried to ensure there is a pathway of light to follow as you walk through the village at night. That is, when you are walking along a street where a light has been switched off, you will always be in sight of an illuminated lamp.

The trial has also been planned so the main thoroughfares of Cambridge Road, High Lane, Lower Street, Chapel Hill and Church Road are lit all night. Also, the village twitchels are excluded from the trial as well as Water Lane, as these are viewed as pathways particularly important for walking around the village.

Won’t turning streetlights off make the village unsafe?

In preparing for the trial, we consulted with members of Essex Police’s Uttlesford District team. Their experience is that in areas like Saffron Walden and Dunmow where part-night lighting schemes operate, there has been no evidence of an upturn in crime. The police will also be providing feedback to the Parish Council on whether they have observed any spike in crime during the period of the scheme.

When will the trial start?

The trial is likely to begin in October, once contractors have completed switching sodium to LED bulbs and installing timers. The timing of the trial itself has also been dependent on the completion of a structural review and electrical testing of the Parish Council’s lights. This was done over the summer.

Will other village areas be switched to part-night lighting?

This will depend on finding additional grant funding. For example, Chapel Hill has been kitted with ornate “lantern” stylings that double the cost of converting to LED light to £750. For areas like Stoney Common, which has a particularly poor road surface, they may be unsuitable for inclusion.

Will the switch to part-night lighting become permanent?

Hopefully yes, but this depends on the success of the trial. Once this has ended the Parish Council will undertake an assessment of the scheme. But should we need to adapt it and revert a light to an all-night setting this can be easily done, with a flick of a switch on the timer.

 

Let us know your views

As the trial progresses, or when it is complete, we would welcome residents’ thoughts on how turning streetlights off from midnight to 5am has affected them. If you would like to let us know, you can either:

Email: info@stanstedmountfitchet-pc.gov.uk

Contact a Parish Councillor

Visit us at our reception at the Mountfitchet Exchange at 72 Chapel Hill.