Council votes to spend £1m on LED street lights

South Kesteven District Council's cabinet voted unanimously for the proposal

South Kesteven District Council will spend £1m to convert more than 3,000 street lights to energy-saving LEDs over the next 18 months.

This will cut costs and emissions.

E.on energy solutions was awarded the contract at the council's cabinet meeting on Tuesday afternoon.

South Kesteven District Council (SKDC) is responsible for 3,893 street lights in its district.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service the council has been making big strides towards converting its street lights to LEDs, which is short for light-emitting diodes.

Completing the job could save the council more than 61% of its street-light budget, which was £633,000 in 2023-24, according to the LDRS.

In August 2021, 152 of the 3,893 lights were fitted with LED bulbs and by December 2023 that figure had grown to 713.

The cabinet unanimously approved Tuesday's proposal, which was put forward by the council's leader, Ashley Baxter.

“We’re speeding up the implementation of this upgrade," said Mr Baxter. "We will make further savings by dimming [street lights] between midnight and 6am.

“The whole existing stock should be upgraded within 18 months and a 10-year warranty will allow the council to reduce maintenance costs."

'Wildlife'

Street lighting is the council's largest source of electricity consumption and accounts for just over 4% of SKDC’s carbon emissions, according to the council.

“We’re also taking care of wildlife through this initiative by reducing the impact of night-time illumination,” said Mr Baxter.

Councils do not have a duty to provide street lighting. However once provided, the local authority does have a duty to maintain it.

The £1m LED upgrade will be funded from three separate "rainy day" funds at SKDC: £500,000 from the Invest to Save Reserve, £250,000 from the Budget Stabilisation Reserve and £250,000 from the Local Priorities Reserve.

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