Chesterfield Online Forum
General Category => Chesterfield Discussion => Topic started by: Old Cruser on October 14, 2014, 05:19:08 PM
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Borrow money to save it?
First thoughts of mine would be 'what's the payable interest rate going to be' ?
Is this a good move for Derbyshire 'if' it is approved? We are seeing cut backs because 'they have no money'
I suppose we are lucky they haven't been dishing candles out ::)
Street lights across Derbyshire could be fitted with LED lights, if plans for a £23m investment are agreed by Derbyshire County Council's Cabinet next week.
More than 68,000 street lights will have their bulb, light fitting and shade replaced with a new LED fitting. And more than 22,000 of the older lamp posts will be replaced at the same time.
The council will borrow the money, which will be paid back over 20 years. The LED lights are expected to last for 25 years, which will lead to lower maintenance costs. And they use less electricity.
The amount the council has paid in electricity for street lights has gone up in recent years because of the increase in fuel prices. Because LEDs use less electricity and prices keep going up it is envisaged that the £23m investment could be paid back in just over 8 years from the savings we would make.
Derbyshire County Council's Deputy Cabinet Member for Jobs, Economy and Transport, Councillor Dean Collins, said:
"We're facing huge budget cuts of £157m over the next few years and we need to cut the street lighting budget by £775,000.
"This means that we had to look for imaginative ways to make the savings, and I believe that this proposal does just that. Investing in LED technology means that we will save money on maintenance and energy costs and reduce our carbon footprint."
A recent public consultation asked people if they would support investment in LED street lights, and 90% of respondents were in agreement.
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I hope they are not like the ones we have had installed at our depot. They have sensors fitted, & dim when there is no traffic, but get brighter AFTER you have passed beneath it. And thats at 15mph or less (speed limit round our depot). TBH they might as well be switched off for what use they are ::)
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Sheffield have the LED ones now and im not particularly impressed with them. While they cast quite a lot of light, its not spread out far enough between the posts.
I would guess at speed, it would be like a flashing light