Kirklees Council to consider late night street lights switch-off
- Published
A West Yorkshire council says it will consider plans to turn off 2,000 street lights at night in a bid to save money.
Kirklees Council's cabinet will discuss the proposal later this week as it looks at ways to cut its £1.8m annual electricity bill for street lighting.
A public consultation will be held to consider the idea and, if given the go-ahead, a pilot scheme will take place.
The lights would be turned off between about midnight and 05:00 during the trial, the council said.
The scheme would mean the installation of energy-efficient technology at a cost of £60,000, Kirklees Council said, but that would give a saving of £19,000 per year, depending on the lights to be modified.
The council said its electricity bill for street lighting was expected to rise to about £2.9m a year by 2015.
There are currently about 51,000 street lights in the Kirklees district.
Another measure to be considered by Kirklees Council's cabinet is the replacement of 5,000 "orange" street lights, which use low pressure sodium, with more energy-efficient equipment at a cost of £395,000.
The cabinet will be asked to approve a total of £455,000 to fund energy-efficient technology at a meeting on 6 December.