Dimming Croydon street lights could save £1m per year

Dimming street lights across Croydon could save the nearly a £1million per year.

After carrying out a trial last year the council wants to introduce a new street lighting policy which would see a 50 per cent reduction in lighting levels in residential streets and main traffic routes.

Along with saving the council £967,000 every year by saving 33 per cent in energy, it will reduce carbon emissions, the council said. In Croydon, there are 23,500 street lights that can be adjusted from a central control room.

Rises in energy prices would see the cost of lighting the boroughs roads jump from £2m in 2021/22 to £2.92m in 2023/24, a council report sets out.

The trial carried out in 2022 saw light levels halved in residential streets between 7pm and 5am and from midnight to 5am on main traffic routes. This is due to be extended as a formal pilot of the changes starts.

The report adds that there were non complaints during the trial and no “direct increase in street crimes”.

Without making this change, the report warns it Croydon’s financial woes could be added to. It said: “Should the proposal not be accepted then there is unlikely to be sufficient budget to cover the ongoing cost of energy and will result in budgetary pressures.”

Now, the council is set to formally start a pilot of the dimmed lights following the trial, which have been running since January 2022.

Mayor of Croydon, Jason Perry, said: “The trials have been a 50 per cent reduction in some areas which has been running for more than a year. We are looking at creating a policy abut how we do this going forward with a real regard for emissions and energy efficiency.”

At a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, February 22 council officers are expected to be asked to undertake further “pilot studies” of the street lighting policy and report back to a future meeting.

(Picture: Flickr/Train Photos)