A project to reduce the impact of old streetlights on the environment has seen 17,000 LED lanterns installed since September 2019.
The environment focused LED lamp replacement project will see more than 27,000 streetlights replaced with LED lanterns to help save energy and reduce the amount of carbon generated from the streetlights. The scheme will also replace more than 9,000 old streetlight columns.
With over 60% of the lantern replacements now completed, a significant amount of work has been completed by the council’s contractors, SSE Enterprise since the project started last year. Whilst the project is still on track for completion in Autumn 2021 there have been some additional streetlights added into the programme of works. These additional works will be completed by Spring 2022.
As well as helping to meet carbon reduction targets by dramatically reducing energy use each year, the new LED lights also reduce running costs as the lamps last longer than the original fittings and need less maintenance.
The new LED lights create a white light effect and are directed onto the pavement and road to help increase visibility for residents and improve the footage for CCTV cameras where they are in use.
Cllr Liz Grey, Chair of the Environment, Climate Emergency and Transport Committee at Wirral Council, said, “We are making some real headway with our climate emergency agenda, which includes making our streetlights more energy efficient and ultimately, more suitable for the greener and more environmentally-friendly future we want for the borough.
“Streetlights play an essential part in making our community feel safe during the darker evenings particularly when out walking, cycling, or using other modes of sustainable transport.
“If we can continue to make further and more significant changes to our infrastructure then there is more potential for the council, and for Wirral as a whole, to reduce pollution by living and working in a more climate conscious way.”
As part of the LED lamp replacement programme, more than 4,500 columns have already been replaced – 50% of all those that are due to be completed as part of the project. During these works, the contractors may need to change the position of the streetlight column, however the new position will be determined based on a number of factors to ensure that it is still safely positioned.