Tag: Street lighting

Edinburgh street lighting contract puts communities at the forefront

Amey’s Edinburgh Street Lighting team have been working with the City of Edinburgh Council to upgrade over 64,000 LED streetlights since the contract went live in 2018 with works creating 20-year savings in excess of £54million. But it’s the difference the team is making to local communities that is a light bulb moment.

Through the unique way the contract was modelled the teams have undertaking over 35 community activities, each benefiting from time devoted to social value – enabling the team to give back to local people and communities.

The upgrading and maintenance programme began in June 2018 and has involved more than 55,000 street lightings, approximately 1,600 street lighting column replacements and various auxiliary electrical elements throughout the streets of Edinburgh in Scotland.

In addition to installing the most up-to-date LED technology, the team has also installed a dynamic street lighting control management system that allows for centralised, more efficient management of the lighting, reducing the need for people to report faults as these are now being automatically picked up.  These maintenance repair works has helped the city to reduce CO2 emissions in compliance with SEEP (Scotland’s Energy Efficiency Programme).

However, the unique way the contract was modelled has meant that the street lighting team have been directly involved in helping local communities and initiatives through putting social value at the forefront during the tendering stages of contract development.

Social value on Edinburgh Street Lighting contract is measured by a points-based system. Amey committed to achieving 720 community benefit points throughout the duration of the three-year contract, which is due to end this year, and has to date surpassed expectations by achieving 1,764 points. 

Points are obtained through Amey’s street lighting team being involved in local events and participating in community projects.

Some of the activities the team have been involved with include attending careers fair, Christmas gift collections, foodbank collections to upgrading a play area for children with both physical and mental disabilities to assisting painting a homeless shelter and upgrading the lighting at a neighbourhood centre and at a Scout hall.

During COVID, involvement in social value programmes weren’t put on hold either, the team adapted to the challenge and hosted virtual quizzes to raise money for prostate cancer and were involved in local foodbank collections for example.

A Spokesperson for the City of Edinburgh Council said: “Community Benefits are at the heart of this Contract and are measured in Community Benefits Points.

“Amey have taken this role seriously and have actively participated in events, carrying out improvement works in community setting and have received much praise from those whom they have helped. Currently, Amey have secured approximately 50 per cent more points than they are contractually obliged to.”

Nick Powell Account Director for Amey’s Street Lighting business said: “Working in collaboration with the City of Edinburgh Council has been the key to the success of this contract partnership which started in June 2018.

“Fully immersing ourselves in community life has enabled us to deliver a successful community programme which has seen the team volunteer their time at community days, career fairs Christmas gift and foodbank collections as well as upgrading a play area for children with both physical and mental disabilities – activities our team are proud to have been involved with. Due to the way the contract was set up – it’s given our teams the opportunity to be fully immersed within the communities that we serve.”

Amey recognises the opportunity to have a positive impact on the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of the communities in which it operates. It has recently released it’s 2020 Social Value Plan which outlines its achievements in this space to date and ambitions for the years ahead.

For more information about Amey’s commitment to social value visit:

www.amey.co.uk/social-value

Brighter eco-friendly lights coming to a street near you

New energy efficient street lights are set to be rolled out across the Capital from later this month, generating savings of £54 million for the city over 20 years. 

The move follows a successful 2012 pilot project and follow-up scheme in 2014 to replace around 7000 obsolete lanterns in Edinburgh with Light Emitting Diode (LED) lights. These ‘white light’ technology lamps give off a clearer light and can last for more than 20 years,compared to existing lights’ current life span of just two to four years.

The crisper light and new technology enhance community safety by making CCTV images clearer and by allowing light levels to be varied.

The Council has approximately 65,000 street lights, costing around £3m in energy alone every year. Energy costs continue to rise and the current lanterns are becoming obsolete, making them harder and costlier to maintain.

To pre-empt these increases, £24.5m* is being spent on upgrading all the city’s street lights; replacing inefficient lanterns with modern, energy efficient and environmentally friendly ones. This will achieve savings for the taxpayer of £54m over 20 years.

Transport Convener Councillor Lesley Macinnes said: “Residents in the pilot areas for the new lights overwhelmingly said that they preferred the crisper, brighter light to the orangey glow of the old, inefficient street lights.  As well as saving the city millions of pounds, replacing the old lights will help cut our CO2 emissions in Edinburgh and comply with Scottish Government energy efficiency legislation.

“We’re gearing up now to introduce energy efficient street lights to streets and communities right across the Capital. We’ll make every effort to minimise disruption to residents and businesses throughout and will target information locally as the roll-out comes to different wards.”

A dynamic street lighting monitoring and control system (CMS) will also be installed, giving much greater, centralised control over the city’s lighting. The CMS will provide real-time monitoring and reporting to identify and track faults, which will cut the number of residents’ complaints about broken street lights and remove the need for street lighting staff to undertake night-time scouting work to identify faulty lights.

It will also track actual energy consumption, submitting information directly to the Meter Administrator and increasing the accuracy of energy billing.

Conservative MSP Miles Briggs has welcomed the announcement. He said: “This decision to spend more in the short term to save money in the long term shows excellent foresight from the City of Edinburgh Council.”

The ward-by-ward rollout of energy efficient street lights is due to start in Ward 7 (Sighthill / Gorgie) next week, but Forth and Inverleith residents will have a while to wait for better lighting – their upgrade isn’t scheduled to take place until the end of next year.

ROLL-OUT SCHEDULE

2018

Nov-Dec: Ward 7 – Sighthill / Gorgie

2019

Jan-Feb: Ward 9 – Fountainbridge / Craiglockhart

Feb-Apr: Ward 8 – Colinton / Fairmilehead

Apr-May: Ward 2 – Pentland Hills

May-Jul: Ward 1 – Almond

Jul-Sept: Ward 3 – Drum Brae / Gyle

Sept-Nov: Ward 6 – Corstorphine / Murrayfield

Nov-Dec: Ward 5 – Inverleith

Dec-Feb: Ward 4 – Forth

2020

Feb-Mar: Ward 13 – Leith

Mar-Apr: Ward 12 – Leith Walk

Apr-Jun: Ward 11 – City Centre

Jun-Aug: Ward 14 – Craigentinny / Duddingston

Aug-Sept: Ward 10 – Meadows / Morningside

Sept-Oct: Ward 15 – Southside / Newington

Nov-Feb: Ward 16 – Liberton / Gilmerton

2021

Feb-Mar: Ward 17 Portobello / Craigmillar

*Prudential borrowing of £24.518m was approved by Full Council on 19 November 2015. The project is anticipated to deliver revenue savings of £3.6m and avoid costs of more than £54m associated with increasing energy prices.

Let there be light …

Council apologises and agrees to ‘up the brightness’

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The city council is to improve the brightness of street lighting following complaints from residents. New LED lights have been installed across the city over recent weeks but hundred of people have expressed concern over the quality of the new street lights. Now, following a review, the lights will be turned up next month.

Councillor Lesley Hinds, Transport and Environment Convener, said: “We’ve been closely monitoring lighting levels in streets where we’ve had a number of complaints about the new LED lights not being bright enough. I held a meeting with the Vice Convener and officers to decide on a course of action and I’m pleased to confirm that after monitoring the situation and taking complaints into account, we’ll be upping the brightness in streets where this appears most needed. This adjustment work will start in April once all the new lighting in this first phase of the rollout has been installed.

“LED street lights are much better for the environment and as they are longer-lasting than sodium street lights and with energy costs predicted to double over the next decade, they could potentially save the city millions of pounds in energy costs. While they are also recommended by police as being safer and better than the old kind of street lights, clearly the brightness has to be set at a level which reassures residents that they can feel safe at night in their street.

“In response to the feedback from the first phase, the rest of the lights due to be installed in various parts of Edinburgh before the end of March will be set at this same increased brightness level. Residents will also receive letters advising them about the new lighting and the reasons behind its installation. I’m aware that there was inadequate communication with residents whose streets were first to get the new street lights and I apologise for this on behalf of the Council.”

Shedding some light on community concerns

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Inverleith councillor Lesley Hinds has asked officers to carry out an urgent appraisal of new street lights following complaints from local residents.

Councillor Hinds chairs the city council’s Transport, Infrastructure and Environment Commitee, which has responsibility for street lighting. She said last night: ““Following a very successful pilot project in 2012, the Council is replacing street lights across the city with new, more energy-efficient and more environmentally friendly lighting. In particular, this will result in brighter and clearer lighting throughout the night.

“A number of residents have been in touch regarding lighting in certain streets and, having now visited them myself, I have asked officers to carry out an appraisal and report back as soon as possible.”

Forth councillor Cammy Day – who is also the city’s community safety ‘champion’ – also discussed ‘some concerns’ with the lighting team yesterday.

Many North Edinburgh residents have expressed anger over the brightness and quality of new ‘eco-lights’ installed across the area over the last week. They believe the lighting makes the streets unsafe and could result in more crime and antisocial behaviour.

However the city council says the lighting project will achieve: 

  • Reduced energy costs. Energy costs are expected to double in the next decade. The use of modern lighting equipment will greatly assist in reducing the impact of increasing energy costs.
  • Improved environmental performance. This new equipment is more energy efficient and lamps have a longer life span.
  • Provide continuous lighting throughout the night. A number of local authorities have been switching off lights for periods of time during the night to save energy.  The City of Edinburgh Council is not currently considering this option.
  • Compliance with EU directives.
  • Brighter and clearer lighting. White lights improve colour recognition and improves images captured on CCTV at night.  They also allow clothing colours and car registration numbers to be more easily identified.

The council also cites an October 2012 pilot project undertaken in the Gilmerton and Saughton Mains areas of the city: 271 lights were changed and the results from consultation with local households achieved around 90% satisfaction levels.

Community anger over poor street lighting

100_4101Concern is growing over the poor quality of new street lighting in North Edinburgh. New ‘green’ low-energy lights have been installed over the weekend but residents say the lights are too dim and will encourage more crime and antisocial behaviour.

The energy-efficient LED bulbs are expected to save nearly 40 per cent on the £3m spent lighting the city each year, but for some residents in North Edinburgh the lights just aren’t bright enough. They say that the dark streets will encourage more crime – in an area that has been blighted by crime and antisocial behaviour over recent months.

Local resident Lorraine McTigue said: “These lights were installed yesterday in my street, I thought there had been a blackout; the place is almost pitch black other than house lights now … terrible.”

Another said: “This is crazy. When there is already a huge problem with kids running wild and vandalism nearly every night, why reduce the power of the street lights? Is this all about the council saving money? Well, they might save on the lighting bill but they’ll be paying out a lot more to repair damage caused by vandalism. They just don’t care about the people who live here who will be frightened to go out at night, and it will be us who will have to find the money to get our vandalised cars repaired. Things are bad enough as it is, but this will make things even worse down here.”

Will the council see the light? We’ll keep you posted …

Extra £1 million to let there be light

Aged lampposts in Edinburgh will be replaced with more energy-efficient equipment after an additional £1 million was sourced this year, the city council has announced.

The extra funding will be used to replace up to 760 old concrete and steel lampposts which failed an independent risk-based structural test.

The new aluminium columns are the first choice in street lighting designs as they do not need ongoing maintenance and have a design life of more than 50 years – almost double the design life of the old concrete and steel columns. They are also built using recycled material and can be recycled again at the end of their life.

Street lighting electricity costs are predicted to double by 2020 and the new posts will be fitted with energy-efficient white light lanterns, which will support the drive to reduce electricity costs whilst helping the Council to meet environmental targets.

Councillor Lesley Hinds, Environment Convener, said: “Replacing old lampposts with modern aluminium columns makes both environmental and financial sense. They last up to twice as long as the traditional designs, and can even be recycled once finished with.

This would be an ideal opportunity to save energy and our carbon footprint, as well as to reduce the amount paid to light the city. It would also help to improve safety of residents and visitors.”

The new street lights have not met with universal approval, however. Drylaw Telford Community Council raised concerns over the positioning and power of new lights when they were installed late in 2011.

Community council treasurer Jackie Brown said then: “The new lights are lower and less powerful so don’t shed nearly as much light. Older members of the community are feeling vulnerable. Some of them are carrying torches so that they can see where to put the key in the door lock when they get home, while some others are avoiding going out altogether when it gets dark. It’s not only older people who are affected by the new lights, though – lots of people are not happy with the new lights.”

The community council has since been working with council officers to improve lighting in problem areas, and recently conducted a consultation in Wester Drylaw Place.

Community council chairman Alex Dale said: “We publicised the consultation with flyers and leaflets and highlighted the issue on our website, but the volume of response to the survey was slightly disappointing – in all there were 19 postcard responses, and two further replies via Survey Monkey.

“The community council  subsequently agreed to ask the council to close the consultation period  and to  go with the preferred choice of the respondents. It’s just a pity that at the end of the day a bit of apathy crept in to  the whole campaign – it has been a lengthy process – but in the end we achieved some sort of democratic decision  so for the Community Council it was a bit of success.”
Light at the end of the tunnel, indeed!
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