It's taken a while to get this off the ground, but we now have a new West Berkshire Green Party web site!
You can find the site here or by typing http://www.westberskgreens.org.uk
Wednesday, February 18. 2009
Savings from street lighting
In a recent article in the Newbury Weekly News, the Tory led West Berkshire Council seem to be (without any consultation) turning the street lights off at various times. Yet another half baked Tory fake green stance.
Adrian Hollister said, "..I wrote about this issue in my blog quite some time ago. The thought of having no street lights does at first seem a bad thing, but with the use of technologies such as LED's and OLED's street lights could be modified to produce full light during the busy early evening hours and 'good enough' lighting activated by sensors during the early hours of the morning (similar to the PIR's people are familiar with on their driveways).
My focus would be to ensure that any savings are passed on directly through the next council tax bill as a part of a 'Environmental savings' scheme.
What's the point in turning street lights off though if businesses, especially office blocks leave their lights on over night? We need to work with local businesses to ensure that savings would be provided to all those businesses that met some simple environmental and social principals - such as local employment, lights out schemes and give back to the local community."
Article: Turn the lights off at night Newbury
Created: February 13. 2008
Web link: http://adrianhollister.co.uk/archives/30-Turn-the-Lights-Off-at-Night-Newbury.html
Article Contents:
I've been interested in the question of street and shop lighting for some time and I've never quite got to grips with why people and businesses seem compelled to leave the lights on all night.
I'm in the lucky position of being north of Newbury in an area of outstanding natural beauty. Our village and the surrounding villages have no street lights. Everyone who is going to be out at night carries a torch, even visitors learn quickly that a torch helps them back to their car. We look up and see a blackish sky, but we can easily see the yellow glow of Newbury, Reading etc.
Driving around the towns you see offices, shops and even houses leaving on lights when they are not in. It would be very interesting to see if one of the smaller towns such as Newbury could enforce or persuade local businesses to turn the lights off at night. Perhaps an incentive around the business rates would interest them? It would also be very interesting to see if people who are used to street lights could survive again with few or no street lights on a night. Is safety really the concern or just fear of the dark?
Ends.
Adrian Hollister said, "..I wrote about this issue in my blog quite some time ago. The thought of having no street lights does at first seem a bad thing, but with the use of technologies such as LED's and OLED's street lights could be modified to produce full light during the busy early evening hours and 'good enough' lighting activated by sensors during the early hours of the morning (similar to the PIR's people are familiar with on their driveways).
My focus would be to ensure that any savings are passed on directly through the next council tax bill as a part of a 'Environmental savings' scheme.
What's the point in turning street lights off though if businesses, especially office blocks leave their lights on over night? We need to work with local businesses to ensure that savings would be provided to all those businesses that met some simple environmental and social principals - such as local employment, lights out schemes and give back to the local community."
Article: Turn the lights off at night Newbury
Created: February 13. 2008
Web link: http://adrianhollister.co.uk/archives/30-Turn-the-Lights-Off-at-Night-Newbury.html
Article Contents:
I've been interested in the question of street and shop lighting for some time and I've never quite got to grips with why people and businesses seem compelled to leave the lights on all night.
I'm in the lucky position of being north of Newbury in an area of outstanding natural beauty. Our village and the surrounding villages have no street lights. Everyone who is going to be out at night carries a torch, even visitors learn quickly that a torch helps them back to their car. We look up and see a blackish sky, but we can easily see the yellow glow of Newbury, Reading etc.
Driving around the towns you see offices, shops and even houses leaving on lights when they are not in. It would be very interesting to see if one of the smaller towns such as Newbury could enforce or persuade local businesses to turn the lights off at night. Perhaps an incentive around the business rates would interest them? It would also be very interesting to see if people who are used to street lights could survive again with few or no street lights on a night. Is safety really the concern or just fear of the dark?
Ends.
