Street lights.

[fred]

Just talking to an old friend on Skype a minute ago..
He retired years ago with a good private pension because of his MS..
He is suffering from another cold,sniffing and looking a bit miserable,but remaining positive through a stiff upper lip IMO..
He suffers from insomnia but says he cant go out for even a short walk like he used to because the council turn off the street lights in Hitchin at 12.30 PM as a local austerity measure!!!!
To be honest...I was shocked.
Does this happen in your areas?

[imagine]

street lights on all night here,

maybe its council cut backs where he lives?austerity

[keith britten]

I used to live out in the sticks back in the uk. No street lights there just the moon and stars and some times someones security light would come on as you passed their house.

[joebloggs]

not here in sunny salford i take my dog for a walk at 5am and all the streets lights are still on

[fred]

Right.. Perhaps its just certain streets in Hitchin then..

[Ako Si Jamie]

Brownout in Hitchin

[Doc Alan]

A public consultation on whether street lights should be switched off at night was held in Scarborough – east coast of England – last autumn.

It was part of a national review of all 49,000 County Council-owned street lights, and apparently a number of councils in England have already introduced the saving, including Leicester City Council and Essex County Council.


North Yorkshire County Council said if the plan was introduced it would save about £400,000 as well as reducing the council's carbon footprint.
Lights were to be switched off between midnight and 0500, although “ those in areas where road safety or crime is an issue” were to be left on.


One of our local " Barangay " councillors urged North Yorkshire to carry out a pilot scheme first, claiming the changes could “ create a “curfew” for elderly and vulnerable people “ adding: “I think a lot of people will be wary of leaving the house after a certain time. We also need the street lights for our CCTV, as the cameras often depend on the street lighting to pick incidents up. “


Council first hoped to introduce the saving in November, but it’s not yet been fully implemented here because of local opposition.

http://www.thescarboroughnews.co.uk/...ting-1-4969772

[andy222]

I think it will catch on the councils need to save money. Back to the dark ages.. No gas lights though too expensive.

[Terpe]

Right.. Perhaps its just certain streets in Hitchin then..

Nope, it's not just Hitchin.
Here in Northamptonshire many many streetlights are switched off. In fact they no longer get switched on.
The government say it's not their instruction it's the decision of the Council as part of the cuts.

There's been plenty of protests and some lights have been put back into service due to safety issues or due to increased
crime and/or anti-social behaviour.

There was a meeting recently to switch off every alternate light

There are many councils all over the country who have turned to this policy.

On a happier note the majority of speed cameras are also turned off

[alanp]

In Stevenage as well they turn the lights out at midnight till about 6am. the council did trails for six months in some places without telling anyone and no one complained

[Dedworth]

I've noticed its lights out on the M4 near us which previously was lit

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/9637...n-targets.html

a disgrace

[stevie c]

All lights left on here in my part of essex

[raynaputi]

All street lights are on all night here in our area too..

[Terpe]

All street lights are on all night here in our area too..

Enjoy it while you can

[somebody]

Some roads where few pedestrians the lights are off or every other one. Plenty of A and m roads seem to have no lighting now.

Most street lights I see around the country have been dimmed I have noticed which probably is a good compromise.

Possibly it's better to save where you can as having seen a Italian town where the wife mum lives make even more cutbacks to services and the streets seem more run down in a quite affluent town. Things can get a lot worse in the uk if budgets are not managed well..

[stevewool]

street lights you make me laugh, here at my home my lights never come on

[Arthur Little]

Does this happen in your areas?

It used to happen in rural communities ... but that was 50 years ago.

[Arthur Little]

Hitchin and Stevenage BOTH, eh??

Hmm ... ... looks like being a Hertfordshire County Council decision!

[Arthur Little]

Hmm ... ... looks like being a Hertfordshire County Council decision!

... here's me thinking *Perth & Kinross Council were a miserable shower; seems *they're not so bad after all.

[Michael Parnham]

Street lights on ok here, don't know if they are on all night Because I'm in bed at around 10pm at the latest, but they are on at 5am during the winter, but never noticed in the summer, I'll take a look tomorrow morning when I go for my walk!