Cheshire East Council to invest £7m to upgrade street lighting

 

Cheshire East Council has successfully secured funding for major improvements to the Borough’s street lights.

The Council is set to invest more than £7m in 2015/16 to upgrade over 11,000 street lights using the latest light-emitting diode (LED) technology.

It will also replace nearly 2,500 columns that have reached the end of their serviceable life.

The money is coming from Salix Finance, which works with public sector organisations to reduce energy costs and carbon emissions. 

Salix provides interest-free loans with repayments covered from the energy savings achieved by the project.

Paul Traynor, strategic commissioning manager for highways at Cheshire East Council, said: “The Council has a duty to look at all options to reduce its carbon emissions and to tackle increasing energy costs.

“Upgrading existing lanterns to LED will not only reduce our carbon emissions but will also deliver a better quality of light for residents, cut ongoing maintenance costs and significantly reduce our energy bills.”