Up To £1 Million Saved By Dimming Street Lights Across The UK

Streets across Britain are being plunged into darkness by cash-strapped councils aiming to save up to £1 million a year and avoid bankruptcy.

Dozens of local authorities have plans to dim street lights on main roads at night to cut costs, a move that safety groups have now warned could put women at ‘serious risk’.

By lowering its lighting, Croydon London Borough Council hopes to save as much as £1 million annually. 

The Havering London Borough Council stated that between midnight and five in the morning, it was forced to reduce the intensity of 4,000 lights on its major thoroughfares. 

As part of a cost-cutting measure, Cornwall has chosen to turn off almost 35,000 lights—more than half of its supply—during the next several months. 

Despite a £32.5 million shortfall that is expected to increase to £81.9 million over the following four years, Havering acknowledged that it had approved its “toughest budget ever” with significant cutbacks.

However, protesters criticised the measure, claiming that it puts women at risk from predatory individuals who are encouraged by the lower lighting. 

The council, according to Our Streets Now, is considering women’s and girls’ safety as “an afterthought.” The organisation works to stop the sexual harassment of women and girls in public.

‘We know from research, from our members, and from the experiences of women and girls up and down the country that low and no street lighting poses a risk to their safety’, a spokesperson told The Telegraph.

The council’s leader, Ray Morgan, said however that he ‘fully recognised the worries around safety’ and that lights on residential roads would ‘remain on full power and brightness’.

Dimming their lights will also help Croydon London Borough Council save up to £1 million annually.

The three-time bankrupt London borough is to implement a new street lighting strategy that will lower illumination levels on major thoroughfares and residential streets by 50 percent.

The council estimated that by taking this action, their energy consumption would be cut by 33 percent, saving them around £967,000. 

A central control centre in Croydon allows for the adjustment of 23,500 street lights. 

There were no complaints throughout the test, and there was no “direct increase in street crimes,” according to a report written after the experiment was completed last year. 

Though it lacks current data, past polls, according to the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, which assists stalking victims, revealed that ‘the majority of respondents feel their personal safety to be more in danger in places where dimming or switching off of streetlights happens’.

Surely, though, this increases the danger for everyone at night, not just women? 

In summary, authorities are overstaffing and spending too much money as a result. Councils will be begging for funding, and the government will be held accountable if you wait long enough. It is a never-ending loop. With the power to terminate employees and remove absurdly high-paying positions from the system, investigations are required.

Of course, everyone is more in danger, but statistically speaking, women are more vulnerable, particularly when it comes to sexual assault. Not only is it unfortunate that we can’t just stroll around comfortably like we used to, but there have been a lot of documented assaults on both genders in recent years.

On a different subject, potholes on the roads make driving extremely hazardous, and the appalling condition of the pavements locally leads to falls and broken bones. Our services are the worst, and our taxes are at an all-time high. All of our money—where does it go?