• Why are you replacing the existing lighting?

• Will you be replacing all of the street lights in our road?

• When will the work start and what is the process?

• Will the new street lights be in the same place as the old ones?

• Is there a policy about where street lights are located?

• Why has the column not been installed exactly where it was marked?

• Why is there a delay taking out the old columns?

• Why is the new light white and not orange?

• But why white light?

• Why is the new street light taller than the old one?

·       Why are you replacing the existing lighting?

The street lights are being replaced as part of an ongoing programme which targets older or defective lighting columns that are no longer serviceable or maintainable.

·         Will you be replacing all of the Street lights in our road?

The programme is split into “one stops” and “schemes”, in a scheme we will replace all of the lighting in a street however in certain cases such as a single damaged or defective column, we will only replace that column.

·       When will the work start and what is the process?

When we are planning a scheme the details will be added to the latest programme or Lighting Schedule which can be found on the home page of this website. We will also send you a letter telling you when we are likely to commence the work.

During this process the Asset Renewal team will visit site and mark out where the new columns are to be located.

In the case of “one-stops” or single column replacements we may not notify residents due to the time constraints upon us to complete the works. 

·       Will the new street lights be in the same place as the old ones?

To comply with present day codes of practice and to provide appropriate levels of illumination with good uniformity, the number of lights and/or spacing’s may differ from the original scheme. The positions are also reliant on the availability of a suitable electricity service. This will inevitably result in some of the new street lights being in different locations to the existing, however it is our intention to try and minimise this as much as possible but ultimately we must still try to achieve design compliancy.

·       Is there a policy about where street lights are located?

The preferred locations are between houses, between drives or on the house side of the drive. It is our aim to position the street lights in any one of these locations, but in order to achieve required design compliancy, this may not always be possible. The street lights are normally sited at the back of the footway to minimise obstruction and to reduce the risk of vehicle damage. 

·       Why has the column not been installed exactly where it was marked?

It is not always possible to locate all of the columns exactly where marked; this may be due to underground obstructions such as Gas or Water mains, sewer pipes or foundations. 

·       Why is there a delay taking out the old columns?

We try to maintain the lighting on the road throughout the works and therefore tend to install and commission the new units before removing the old ones.

·       Why is the new light white not orange?

As technology progresses and the need to reduce energy consumption and carbon footprint becomes increasingly more important, older light sources become phased out due to their disproportionally high energy consumption compared to light output.

The old “orange” lighting or Sodium/SOX lighting is no longer considered efficient enough and great savings have been made with modern replacements.

·         But why white light?

The new white light, as well as being better at energy efficiency, provides a good clean light that makes recognition of obstacles and colour better at night. This is designed then to assist in better road safety for all road users.

·         Why is the new street light taller than the old one?

In order to achieve maximum efficiencies the lights are located at certain levels above the ground to reduce the number of lights required to illuminate the road to the correct standard. We have sensible limits placed upon us within different classes of road, for example in a normal side road or cul-de-sac we are limited to 6m column height. On main roads or bus routes where the lighting requirements are higher we can use 8m, 10m or 12m columns.

If we use shorter columns we will need to increase the number of lights required in a particular road to meet the design standards, increases in the number of columns and lanterns will significant increase the costs of both ongoing maintenance and energy consumption to Staffordshire County Council for the life of the unit.