Every Essex town’s household to pay ?11 each to keep street lights on

Every household in Harlow is set to pay more than £10 a year to keep street lights on in the town as costs have doubled in four years. Harlow Council ^[1] leader Dan Swords says the authority’s position has not changed since it introduced the police in 2015, after an “uproar” of Essex County Council’s plan to switch off lights between between 1am and 5am.

The estimated cost of keeping the street lights on all night in Harlow ^[2] when the agreement was last extended in 2019 stood at £149,095 per year. But now the current estimated cost of £321,000 per annum. There are estimated to be about 28,500 equivalent Band D households in Harlow, leaving each with a bill for the policy of £11.

The proposed agreement ensures that Essex County Council will recoup the actual cost of the electricity once the actual consumption and electricity rate are known. Harlow is the only district council in Essex that is funding night-time street lighting, though street lights in only parts of Epping operate part-night lighting between 1am and 5am all week.

Councillor Swords said: “Our position remains unchanged that we believe that street lights should remain on and that is why we are funding it. When Essex County Council proposed part time lighting there was absolute uproar which is why the council decided to fund it at the time.”

A statement as part of a decision paper from Essex County Council says: “Supporting district and borough councils by giving them the option to pay for lights to be left on all night in their parts of the county contributes towards building a sustainable economy by providing a well maintained, accessible network for residents in line with local decisions.”

The agreement will be for a fixed duration of three years from April 1, 2023, to 31 March, 2026. This agreement will apply on a district-wide basis, to all Essex County Council owned street lighting in the district concerned – Harlow District Council will not be able to request that only specific lights and areas remain on all night.

To reflect the volatility in electricity prices Essex County Council reserves the right to amend the amount paid every quarter. The payment will be adjusted on a quarterly basis to reflect any changes in energy costs. Essex County Council had been proposing to keep street lights off for longer by switching them off between midnight and 6am. But this plan was dropped in February.

References

^{^} Harlow Council (www.essexlive.news)
^{^} Harlow (www.essexlive.news)
^{^} Essex County Council street light switch-off plan branded ‘unsafe and not sensible’ (www.essexlive.news)