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Street lights at night - John (24th May 2019 - 06:43:58) Dear residents of Liphook, I just wanted to ask about your opinions, regarding the recent "innovation" of the HCC with the "Dimming regimes" of the street lights (from 1st of April - switched off from 1am to 4am). Thank you in advance for your answers.

Re: Street lights at night - Richard (24th May 2019 - 07:34:49) I feel it is a good thing. It saves power, cuts down on light pollution and reduces the greenhouse effect (albeit on a tiny scale) from electricity generation. 40 years ago, turning the lights off in small towns at night was the usual practice. We used to carry torches with us

Re: Street lights at night - John (24th May 2019 - 07:48:05) Hi Richard, Thanks for the reply: "saves power, cuts down on light pollution and reduces the greenhouse effect" is without a doubt a very positive thing(having said that the LED lights were replaced not so long ago and proven to be energy efficient).What about the "Crime map" effect???

Re: Street lights at night - Pete (24th May 2019 - 09:14:27) All for it. Small changes like this when added together can make a huge difference. I see so few people using their legs and walking about town during the daytime let alone at 2am cant see that it should be an issue.

Re: Street lights at night - Richard (24th May 2019 - 10:44:35) John, do street lights influence crime...? Before 1am it may do, but if a light is on and no one is awake to see the criminal activity, then the lights may as well be off. Does the crime map tell us times of crimes? We could see if there was a correlation between lights off and more crime. What happens during power cuts, does crime spike?

Re: Street lights at night - Terry (24th May 2019 - 14:14:35) I think they should be turned off earlier in the summer time.

Re: Street lights at night - Jen (24th May 2019 - 17:11:00) I didn't even realise that the street lights had ever been left on all night! That seems very wasteful. I thought that they always switched off automatically at about 1 or 2 in the morning.

Re: Street lights at night - John (24th May 2019 - 22:32:26) Thank you all for your time and the replies. In my opinion, it would me much better and safer for the community to start this "project" with the sensory lighting, which is very efficient and useful for those, who may need the light at night ,but also will safe the energy, if there is no one around ; Anyway ,below, I am sharing with those of you, who may wish to know more, the answer, I have received today from the Hampshire PFI,SSE Lighting Services: "As SSE Lighting Services is the maintenance contract for Hampshire County Council we have received instruction of changes to the lighting regimes within certain areas in Hampshire. This change means commencing from 1 April 2019 between the hours of 1am and 4am the street lights will be turned off. This was approved by the Executive Member for Economy, Transport and Environment on 29 October 2018 following a two-month public consultation earlier in the year. If you wish to see more details please follow: https://www.hants.gov.uk/transport/roadmaintenance/streetlighting/part-night-lighting Any further information that has not been answered within the link above please direct your enquiry about Part Night Lighting directly to HCC. You can either email street.lighting@hants.gov.uk or complete the HCC general enquiry form at HCC General Enquiries, alternatively please call HCC on 0300 500 1388. Exceptions to this policy and requests to leave a street light on all night will only be considered where there is a local social problem which requires police involvement and is intended as a part of a crime detection or surveillance project. We would then make changes to the lighting for this purpose but any change made will be time limited and only extended when it forms a part of a more serious crime detection case. The request for this will need to come from the police direct to HCC. Other than this there are no exceptions to the policy". Thank you all once again - it is always good to know different opinions.

Re: Street lights at night - D (24th May 2019 - 23:19:12) Yup, more than happy to have them switched off.

Re: Street lights at night - Sarah (25th May 2019 - 10:59:16) I think it’s a brilliant idea. Many of us who live even just slightly out of Liphook barely have street lights anyway and love the dark skies. So it isn’t anything strange to many people. If it helps save energy then wonderful! I understand it might be uncomfortable for people who work into the night and then have to walk home though.

Re: Street lights at night - liz (29th May 2019 - 12:05:57) More than happy for the street lights to be switched off in the early hours!

Re: Street lights at night - Hellen (2nd Jun 2019 - 17:32:32) An all-out blackout benefits the environment and some individuals who have to tolerate public lighting in their private property. However, the blackout is an unfortunate decision in a reality of increased ASBO (aggression, vandalism, crime) coupled with reduced public order enforcement. It's a crimester paradise, and Liphook has more than its fair share of it. It is also incompatible with under-investments in public infrastructure (e.g. pavement and road poor surface, parking/access issues). This makes a perfect storm for incidents and accidents. It's a false economy of public austerity originated in the unholy marriage between decision-makers and unscrupulous financiers. Me thinks the little money saved on powering streetlight will be far superseded by monies needed to deal with the consequence of the total darkness (e.g. personal damages, extra police work etc.). Light and motion sensors seem an excellent idea and perhaps the best way forwards.

Re: Street lights at night - John (3rd Jun 2019 - 04:22:33) Thank you Hellen,for your honest and very comprehensive comment, it is much appreciated.

Re: Street lights at night - Rob (3rd Jun 2019 - 08:32:41) If you want light and motion sensors then we'd have to deal to LED Street lights. The "new" ones we have in the village are basically oversized compact fluorescent tubes. They take a while to turn on and achieve full light output. LED lights are instant, plus they can be dimmed more effectively to reduce rather than totally light rather than a total blackout. Personally I don't see a problem with total black out after 1am. If you live in the village you know it's going to happen and you should prepare, if for some reason you have to be out and about after 1am take a torch. The of time I've walked home from the station at that time in the morning I've hardly ever seen anyone. Unless it is a totally moonless or very overcast night there's generally enough moonlight to see to move around the village anyway.

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