Street lights to be switched off at night in parts of Aberdeenshire.
In a cost saving exercise, Aberdeenshire Council is switching off lights between midnight and 6am in six Aberdeenshire communities and it is due to begin later this month. This will be introduced initially in Auchenblae, Auchterless, Monymusk, Rora, Sandend and Sauchen towards the end of this month.
Aberdeenshire Council has been looking at a number of street lighting
options for the area, including new technology, in order to lower costs and
help the environment.
There are approximately 40,000 street lights within Aberdeenshire that are maintained by Aberdeenshire Council. Annual energy consumption is in the order of 16,000kWh, costing £1.6M.
Can the Council legally turn off the lights?
Yes. There is no statutory requirement on local authorities in the UK to provide public lighting, the law states that the Roads Act (Scotland) 1984 empowers local authorities to light roads in which their opinion ought to be, but does not place a duty.
For more information go to:
http://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/roads/maintenance/lighting.asp
