I was curious about how much of our street lighting is now LED. Not only do LEDs save money in terms of electricity consumption but also in maintenance because the bulbs last so much longer. I asked Councillor Ruth O’Keeffe what she could find out.

Her reply was that the key layer of Government in all this is the County Council. The District Council only has very limited responsibility for lighting in parks.

The head of the Lighting section at ESCC says that ESCC street lighting is currently approximately 50% LED / 50% traditional discharge lighting. LED units have been introduced through various projects during the last five years. A further energy saving project is planned for the new year, with a further 2000 lanterns on the main roads being converted to LED. ESCC are also looking at future projects in which LED lanterns would replace the 4000 low pressure Sodium (orange) lanterns currently in place throughout the County.

Looking at the inventory there are currently 2005 ESCC street lights in Lewes of which 814 (41%) are LED units. The number of LED units will increase as and when the projects outlined above are progressed on site and through the replacement of individual lanterns that are changed through maintenance.

As Ruth says, it is good to know that concerning LED lighting, ESCC appears to be at about twice the average already (10:10 estimate that the current figure is still only 20%) and that these projects to continue to increase that percentage are already planned and being put in.

Julia Waterlow