Lights off in Leam

**An energy-saving scheme to switch off streetlights after midnight will begin four months earlier than originally planned.**

The Leamington, Warwick and Kenilworth area will have streetlights turned off between midnight and 5:30am from 1 December 2012.

However, lights will not be switched off along high-traffic areas, taxi ranks, alleyways, cycle paths, care homes for the elderly and accident and emergency hospitals.

Warwickshire County Council hopes the measures will save money and reduce carbon emissions. Councillor Peter Butlin, Portfolio Holder for Highways and Transport for the council, said it “makes sense to bring the timetable forward rather than sit and wait for April to arrive” and claimed earlier implementation would save taxpayers £102,000 and 551 tonnes of carbon.

Warwickshire County Council currently spends £2.2 million per year on energy for street lighting but hopes to save £500,000 per year by introducing the part-night scheme and to cut CO2 emissions by almost 3,000 tonnes per year.

However, Nuneaton and Bedworth councillor Ian Lloyd argued the program would cost £1.5million, meaning it would be at least three years before any money could be saved.

Arvind Norris, a second-year PAIS student, said that he preferred the energy-saving system but added that safety was “more of a concern for girls at night”.

Nuneaton and Bedworth and Rugby would follow in February and North Warwickshire in April 2013. Labour councillors for Nuneaton and Bedworth condemned the plans as “playing with people’s safety” in July.

However, the county council argue that in case of emergency, such as an accident, the police will be able to request the lights to be switched on for the duration of the incident.