Shedding a little light on things
Community concerns at the level of street lighting in a Leamington road have been tackled, with new brighter and more energy efficient columns installed.
A joint Warwickshire County Council and Warwick District Council scheme to improve the lighting in Crown Way, Leamington Spa, has been carried out.
The £25,000 scheme, funded by the county council and using Home Office money to improve community confidence, has seen the very old lighting columns replaced with new lighting columns that are fitted with a new energy efficient white light source called Cosmopolis that as well as improving the lighting in Crown Way also reduces the amount of electricity that is used.
The scheme has been welcomed by the area’s local councillors Cllr Sarah Boad and Cllr Eithne Goode saying: “Anyone who knows the area will recognise just how dim the lights were. It is great news to get the new columns installed.
“It is simple things like this that will help the people of Lillington feel safer in this communal area.”
Cllr Alan Cockburn, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for the Environment, said: “The new lights emit a more natural white light than the existing lighting that allows the human eye to see colours better than under the existing lighting and hopefully assist better facial recognition of people under the lighting.
“They will also cut electricity consumption so that the electricity bill for lighting Crown Way reduces by around £200 and CO2 emissions are reduced by around 800 Kg each year.”
The lighting improvements are part of a whole programme of works totalling in the region of £35,000 on Crown Way to upgrade the area and bring it up to a standard. The impetus for the works came from the North Leamington Community Forum in September at Lillington Free Church where residents where asked for their views on what could be done to improve their local environment.
This set wheels in motion for both District and County Council officers to consider what needed doing in and around Crown Way precinct and how it could be resourced.
Another area that is being considered for upgrading is the ‘old drying area’ on Wallsgrove Close off Crown Way and residents have been directly consulted on this as to what it could be transformed into to benefit the community – the outcomes of that consultation will be discussed at the next North Leamington Community Forum on Thursday, 18 March, 6pm at St Paul’s Church, Leicester Street, Leamington Spa.