Council's Money-Saving Eco Street Light Replacement Plan Wins £5.3 million from Government

A Bedford Borough Council project to replace all street lights with low energy, low cost, high quality units by 2018 has won £5.3 million in government funding. The Council's invest-to-save project beat off competition from around the country to become one of only 28 successful bidders to the Department for Transport's Highway's Maintenance Challenge Fund, out of well over 100 applicants.

The £6.3 million scheme will provide new low energy lanterns, replace old columns as required and introduce a central management system to control lighting. The new lanterns will also be cheaper, easier and quicker to fix, improving the service offered to residents and helping to maintain road safety and public safety at all times. In addition, the new lamps will reduce light pollution.

The project will not only save energy by as much as a half on current levels while improving lighting quality, it will also save local taxpayers around £190,000 every year. The project is another example of the carbon-cutting, money-saving, forward-thinking approach pursued by Bedford Borough Council under Mayor Dave Hodgson's leadership.

Commenting, Mayor Dave said: "This project will save taxpayers' money and help protect the environment, while improving the quality and reliability of street lighting right across urban and rural Bedford Borough. It's great news for local taxpayers and for the environment that the government recognised the strength of our bid and selected it over so many others across the country."

You can find more information about street lighting in Bedford Borough and this project in particular, including a copy of the successful bid document, on the Council's website.