New Lamps For Old
Hounslow Council to roll out four hundred heritage style lamps
A proposal to roll out 400 new energy-efficient ‘heritage-style’ lamp posts, which will maintain the character of the borough’s historic areas while providing improved safety to pedestrians and motorists, got the green light at Tuesday night’s Cabinet meeting (21 March).
They say this means lamps will not need to be replaced for another twenty years. A part of Chiswick will be exempt from the new measures, as it has historic street lighting and lanterns at Strand on the Green. There are eight Historic England Listed Street lighting columns and lanterns on the Embankment and some columns in Ship Alley and elsewhere. All historic lamps will be retained subject to safety tests.
Most of the 400 traditional looking lamps across the Borough
are modern ‘heritage style’ lighting
columns which contribute to the character of the area and the Council
is anxious to preserve that character. The vast majority of lighting columns
have been replaced as part of the PFI street lighting programme.
The Council says that the planned street lighting programme incorporates resident feedback from previous consultations, and will see most of the borough’s ‘heritage-style’ lamp columns upgraded almost ‘like for like’ with more modern, robust versions that are very similar to the existing design. As well as meeting energy-savings targets by using new LED lightbulbs, the lighting level has been carefully selected to be as close to natural light as possible.
The Council says that rhe new lighting system will also integrate with Hounslow Highways’ central management system, providing real-time information and the ability to adjust the lighting levels remotely. It also takes out the need to report faulty street lights as the system will flag up any issues as they happen.
Councillor Amrit Mann, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Environment at Hounslow Council, said, “Since the start of their contract, Hounslow Highways has replaced the majority of street lamps across the borough, while we considered the best option for the existing heritage-style columns.
“The decision to go ahead with the upgrade will mean that historic
and conservation areas will retain their current look and feel, but we
will get improved lighting and more robust assets that will not need to
be replaced for at least another 20 years.”
March 27, 2017
