Part-night Lighting in the Vale

The project reduced the council's Co² emissions and made a significant contribution to a reduction in energy costs.

We currently only have 2,510 part night light lamps; as our LED  replacement programme has meant we've been able to install over 10,000 LED lamps in residential areas.  

Part Night Lighting Project Board

A Part-night Lighting Project Board was established to devise and implement a robust risk assessment criterion and methodology to determine which lanterns could safely be turned off and thereby allow safe implementation of part-night lighting throughout the council's local highway network.

The Project Board comprised key stakeholders, including the Police, Safer Vale Partnership as well as Council Road Safety Officers and Chartered Engineers. 

• What is part-night lighting? 

  Part-night lighting is when a street light is switched off for part of the night. In the Vale the affected street lights will switch on at dusk, (as usual) and then switch off between the hours of midnight and 6.00am, they will then be turned back on until dawn.
• Can the Council legally turn off the lights? 
  Yes, the is no statutory requirement for councils to provide public lighting. The law states that:
   - The Highways Act empowers local authorities to light roads but does not place a duty on them to do so.
   - Local authorities have a duty of care to road users and have an obligation in some circumstances to illuminate      some types of street furniture or traffic calming measures, such as speed bumps.
• Will all lights be affected? 
  No, the LED street lights will be unaffected; the remaining older style street lights will be subject to an assessment criteria to decide if they are to remain lit.
• Has a safety review being carried out on the roads affected?
  Yes, all roads are reviewed by council officers and the police before the decision is made to part-light.
• Will 30mph speed limits be affected if lights are switched off?
  A 30mph speed limit automatically applies on any road containing a system of street lights placed not more than 200 yards apart, unless signposted with a different speed limit. The law does not state that these lights need to be lit all night to be applicable. Motorists are advised the usual 30mph speed limit will be in place regardless of whether the lights are switched on or not.
• Are any other council's doing this? 
  Yes, councils across Wales and England have successfully brought in part night lighting and LED street lights, as part of their street lighting policies. 
• Will this just not increase crime and traffic accidents? 
  Evidence from other areas in which similar measures have been introduced suggests that levels of crime and numbers of traffic accidents do not increase.
  
  We will continue to work closely with our emergency services colleagues during the implementation of part-night lighting and in monitoring the effect of part night lighting on completion. 
• How much will this cost and how much will be saved? 
  The estimated cost to implement the scheme is just over £350,000; as a Council we will be saving over £217,000 in energy costs per year along with an annual saving of 1042 tonnes of carbon emissions. 
• Will my home insurance be affected as a result of part night lighting? 
  Local authorities do not have a statutory requirement to provide public lighting. Where public lighting is installed it is there to light areas of the highway, street lighting is not provided to protect private properties.
  
  Street lighting within the vicinity of your property is not an element that insurance companies will or should take into account when developing home insurance or property policies. 
• Can the light be on all night if I work nightshift or unsociable hours? 
  The criteria for the part night lighting will be applied consistently to all areas and will not consider nightshift or unsociable hours. 

• Why can't you switch off every other light? 
  Switching off every other light would not give us the required savings. 
• Have you considered other alternatives? 
  As a Council we have introduced LED lamps and dimmed over 3000 lighting units. However in order to make the necessary savings, we are now introducing part-night lighting.
• When will the lights be switched off? 
  Installation work is due to begin July with a roll out in phases from east to west across the Vale. This is expected to take up to twelve weeks to complete.
• How many lights will be affected? 
  It is difficult to give a precise figure until all risk assessments have taken place. However it's anticipated that 70% of all the non LED Vale of Glamorgan street lights will be switched to part night lit, which is approximately 8,000. 
•  Why do the lights not switch off and on at exactly midnight and 6am?
  This is because the part night lights are linked to ‘solar time’ rather that the standard time that is shown on a clock.

  The difference between solar time and the time on your clocks and watches varies throughout the course of a year. What this means for your street lights is that the time they will switch on varies with this, from  as early as 05:44 on 03 November to as late as 06:14 on 12 February. This same variation will repeat itself every year.