Street light control may be handed over to Cumbrian council
Thornton said it would allow the council to move into "a new world of low-energy lighting which is carefully targeted to avoid light pollution"."By digitally controlling our street lights, we can produce the light we want, when we want it, to reduce consumption and ensure we are getting the most of every pound that we spend," he said.The local authority said the maintenance of lights would also be improved because having one central contol would allow automatic alerts to be set up to notify engineers when there is a problem.Liberal Democrat councillor Janet Battye said parish councils would not be forced to "hand anything over or do anything"."This proposal is a result of listening to them, working with them and responding to what they have been telling us they want," she said.
'Dark holes in village'
The council had previously sought the views of smaller authorities about the proposed move.Great Strickland Parish Council said many of its lights were attached to telegraph poles, and the current policy seemed to be "to remove rather than repair" lights when there was a problem."Our lighting stock is dwindling rapidly," said clerk Ruth Tupling, at the time of the consultation."This has resulted in 'dark holes' throughout the village, and meant that some of the older residents no longer feel able to go out in the dark."
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