Council rolls out new public lighting

Measures are being rolled out across Tipperary to reduce the amount of power used in the public lighting of streets in towns and villages throughout the county.

Liam Brett, a senior engineer with Tipperary County Council, informed councillors at their December meeting in Nenagh that the number of public lights in the county had increased from 16,000 to 17,850 over the past four and a half years.

Mr Brett went on to outline how such a large proportion of the council's energy costs were accounted for by providing public lighting, comprising 38 per cent of the local authority's overall energy usage.

He revealed that a total of 6,000 new low-energy LED street lights had been introduced in recent years to replace the more costly and traditional sodium lights and to reduce carbon emissions to tackle global heating and minimise the impact on wildlife such as birds.

Mr Brett said a change of policy would now see street lighting allowed in certain instances in zones with speed limits of 60 kilometres an hour. Up to this it was council policy to confine street lighting to zones of 50kph.

Cllr Ger Darcy urged the council to consider the erection of street lighting a priority in villages like Ballingarry in north Tipperary, located on a main national road, the N52.

Cllr Noel Coonan said there were many people living in unlit housing estates that had not been taken in charge by the council. He urged the council to provide lighting in these estates.

Cllr Michael O' Meara said the council now had vast sums of money available to spend on public lighting.

Cllr John Carroll called for public lighting to be provided on roads out of villages and towns that led to public amenities such as playing pitches and community halls. Cllr Phyll Bugler urged the council to provide public lighting in the public park at Ballina.

Cllr David Dunne encouraged the public to use the service provided by the council to report lights that were not working. He said this could be done through the council's website.

Mr Brett said the cost to power, maintain and improve the 17,850 street lights in Tipperary in 2021 came to €1,900,000 with a similar projected cost for 2022

Council director, Marcus O' Connor said the rollout of more efficient LED lights would ultimately cut the council energy bill by half.

He said the council could not erect public lighting in council estates that were still privately owned and that had not yet been taken in charge by the council.