NEW ENERGY EFFICIENT STREET LIGHTING FOR THE VILLAGE
Apart from the main roads, most of the street lighting within the village is the responsibility of the Parish Council. It is in need of refurbishment.
The Council has authorised updating of its street lighting columns in the following roads: Danns Lane, Pizien Well Road, Old Road, Canon Lane, Mill Lane, Lodge Close, Love Lane, Red Hill, The Orpines, Fields Lane, Cobbs Close, The Brucks, and Warden Mill Close.
This work will refurbish the columns and make them ready to receive new lanterns as described below. Work is planned to start within the next two months.
Our existing lighting uses obsolete and energy inefficient light sources. The Council wants to replace them with 3000K Warm White light LED lanterns, which will use about 70% less electricity and significantly reduce our carbon footprint.
The government has created the SALIX scheme whereby councils can receive an interest free loan to cover the cost of installing energy efficient street lighting. The interest free loan repayments will be spread over five years, so the cost of repaying the loan will be largely offset by the lower electricity bills.
The cost of the proposed new LED lights will be in the region of £13,000, and we plan to request a SALIX loan of £ 12,000.
This year, the street lighting electricity budget is £2,883. With LED lighting, the electricity cost would be about £870 – a saving of over £2,000 pa. After allowing for the loan repayment of £2400 pa, the net cost to the parish will be about £400pa. This will have a negligible effect on the rates. Once the loan is repaid, over a 5-year period, we will benefit from a reduction of about £2,000 in our annual electricity bill.
To obtain a SALIX loan, we have to demonstrate that we have the support of the village for this energy saving, environmentally friendly project.
It is vital that everyone demonstrates their support for this initiative either by emailing our Clerk or voting on the Wateringbury Parish Facebook page.