New street lighting arriving in Romsey

Thursday, 16 August 2012

Hampshire County Council's street lighting replacement programme will be coming to Romsey in the Autumn of 2012 to improve the town's streetlights with the latest energy efficient equipment.

Much of Hampshire's lighting stock is over 30 years old and needs replacing. As part of the improvement programme, 150,000 street lights, illuminated signs and bollards across the county are being replaced or upgraded, using the latest technology in energy saving lamps and dimming controls. The new street lighting will also comply with Government targets for carbon reduction.

New 'natural' lighting

The new lighting in Romsey will see the replacement of approximately 507 lanterns and a further 1161 lanterns and posts. The introduction of flexible lighting levels and white 'natural' lighting will result in:

• better lighting clarity
• less light pollution due to the new lights pointing downwards
• improved road safety
• improved personal security
• a reduction in carbon.

Councillor Mel Kendal, Executive Member for Environment and Transport at Hampshire County Council said: "A lot of preparation and planning has gone into the Romsey Street Lighting programme and we will try to keep disruption to a minimum. This means coordinating works with other schemes and ensuring that work on key roads is planned to take place outside of rush hour periods.

Long term investment

"This long term investment will help to improve the county's energy efficiency, reduce energy costs and cut carbon emissions. As well as replacing older lighting columns which are coming to the end of their life, the new lamps will improve lighting levels on the ground, reduce light pollution at night and help make people feel safer in town centres and residential streets.

"The project is an excellent example of using some of the latest technology to save energy costs and carbon emissions well into the future."

Further information about the Street Lighting PFI

The Street Lighting Private Finance Initiative (PFI) is in partnership with Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) and will see the replacement or updating of 150,000 street lights, illuminated signs and bollards in Hampshire with the latest energy efficient equipment during the course of the 5 year core investment period. The scheme will bring many benefits for residents including reduced carbon emissions, reduced light pollution and the capacity to target lighting in areas of high crime.

Implementation of the initiative began in April 2010, starting in Basingstoke, Gosport, Eastleigh, Hedge End, and Winchester. So far 38,500 units (columns and lanterns) have been replaced or changed, using the latest in energy saving lamps and dimming control.

The South Coast Street Lighting PFI won the Best Local Government Project Team 2010 in the Public Private Finance Awards.

• Hampshire PFI Lighting Portal

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