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Edinburgh City Council’s 2014 plans to replace dull sodium lamps with bright LEDs was designed as part of a £30 million project to bring the capital’s street lights into the 21st century. Unfortunately, the new installation has been drawing criticism from residents for seemingly being less bright than the old lamps. By James Hunt:
This major overhaul of street lighting across Edinburgh was aimed at saving millions of pounds, as well as to show the City in a better light. It is claimed that the energy-efficient LED light sources and luminaires save almost 40% on the near £3m spent each year illuminating the city. This is very important bearing in mind that energy prices are expected to roughly double over the next decade.
Yet right from the start, the new installation gave rise to many complaints, with the Edinburgh Evening News reporting in March that the city’s residents had been left in the dark by new LED lamp posts, and feared that poorly lit streets would spark a crime wave.
Edinburgh City Council received 331 complaints from nearly a quarter of the 537 upgraded streets where people were concerned about possible crime and vandalism. Locals say that the LED sources emit a dim, concentrated pool of light, creating ‘significant dark spots from which anyone (the implication being ‘dangerous’) could appear’.
It is even said that some locals – one of whom has been quoted as saying “the streets are effectively in darkness” - have been using torches to help them get into their homes. Some are certainly frightened at night.
Fears about antisocial behaviour in dimly lit streets are said to be acute, particularly in north Edinburgh, which has experienced an upsurge in crime spate over recent months. This is not necessarily anything to do with the new LED lighting, but it adds to fears even so.
Brighter now but concerns remain
Because of these concerns, the Council monitored the LED streetlights, and then brightened (apparently manually) them in areas and streets where this was most needed. However, residents remain concerned, saying that the lighting still seems too dark.
The Edinburgh Evening News reports Councillor Allan Jackson as saying that while the brighter levels 'seem to help a bit, there is an ongoing problem with the beam spread, which leaves 'bright spots and dark spots'.
He continued: “The new lights are going into lamp posts which were never designed for them,” he said, noting - for example - that they don't throw light back toward front doors, as happened previously.
It is now thought that Edinburgh City Council may now need to install additional lighting columns to make up for the narrower beam emitted by the LED sources, compared with conventional streetlights. This would clearly have cost implications.
It is noteworthy that the residents of many other towns and cities have complained similarly about their LED street lights and consequent ‘dark spots’.