City plans £10m LED street lighting upgrade

The upgrade of street lights could cost £10m, the council said

Plans to upgrade street lights in Coventry with LED technology at a cost of more than £10m are to be examined by councillors.

Under the proposals to be looked at by the city council's cabinet on Tuesday, more than 29,000 individual lights would be changed.

Councillor Patricia Hetherton, the cabinet member for city services, said LED bulbs would enable the authority to cut costs and its carbon footprint.

She said it would provide a better and more financially efficient service.

The council's energy bill for street lights was £3.4m in the last financial year, a report said.

The new LED lighting would use almost half the current amount of energy and lead to savings of £900,000 per year, based on current costs and the new bulbs would require far less maintenance, officials added.

Councillor Patricia Hetherton said the changes were aimed at cutting costs

The council said a successful LED trial had already been carried out in the Hillfields area which they claimed had led to positive feedback from residents.

If the plans are approved, they will be discussed at a full council meeting on 14 January.

Earlier this year, other street light changes proved unpopular with, in September, more than 1,000 people signing a petition demanding thousands of lights be switched back on.

It follows changes in July when the lamps on more than 2,500 city streets were turned off from midnight to 04:00-05:00 GMT.