By Jamie Shapiro, Local Democracy Reporter
Street lights in residential parts of Southampton are set to be switched off every night between 1am and 4am in an attempt to save £400,000 a year for Southampton City Council, under budget proposals to shortly be decided.
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The council said: “Turning off street lights during part of the night (1am-4am), in certain areas in the city formed part of the proposals in this year’s budget consultation to deal with the national rising costs of energy.
“Neighbouring local authorities have already implemented the turning off of street lights and 67% of our consultation respondents were in support of Southampton adopting the same approach.”
The council has a shortfall of over £20 million and turning off the street lights is one of many savings planned in the budget.
The proposal will enable the council to make financial savings of up to £400,000 a year.
The council says that it will keep areas where lights are being switched off under review and will take into account ‘feedback on areas of concern for communities’.
Concerns centre around the increased risk of crime, however, according to the council: “Some national studies have shown that certain crimes actually reduce in residential areas where streetlights are turned off.”
The following areas will not be affected by the new nightly switch-offs to control any risks that could come as a result:
- The city centre;
District and local shopping centres including those in Bitterne, Woolston, Portswood and Shirley;
The classified road network;
Main roads across the city (typically the roads in and out of residential areas and/or key bus routes);
Key CCTV monitoring locations;
Areas of high public patronage such as hospitals and community hubs;
Known anti-social behaviour hotspots;
Certain streets due to traffic calming measures;
Roads on which there are high risks of traffic accidents;
Parks (where highway lighting extends to these areas);
Safe routes home as identified by educational establishments; and
Lighting which is not on the public highway such as council housing and leisure land.
In April 2019 Hampshire County Council started ‘part night lighting operations’ in most residential areas between 1am and 4am, again with main roads and town centres, pedestrian crossings and some other cases excluded from the change.
The decision will be made in the budget announcement on February 22.
Photo by Justus Menke on Unsplash
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