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Praise for council switching off 15/8/11
Sirs,
The council is to be congratulated on their proposal to turn off street lighting
after midnight from September. Not only a great saving in electricity costs but also
a positive green measure.
It will be greatly appreciated by the growing body of people interested in astronomy and the opportunity to see the Northern Lights (Aurora) and meteor showers properly. It could also attract visitors from the mainland to take advantage of our new "Dark Zone." If well advertised it would make another tourist attraction especially in the lean winter months.
On the negative side what is strange is that Plasterfield and Parkend, with amongst the highest number of lamp posts per rate payer, will continue to burn their lights all night. Over the years there seems to have been a competition amongst some councillors in who can install the most streets lights in their ward.
This has resulted, for example, in sections of Constable Road and Moss End with no houses having lights every 30 metres apart. Every second or even third lamp post could be removed and still give more than ample illumination for the road.
I appreciate that a large number of people may enjoy the luxury of street lights on at 3am and 4am in the morning. If however they were asked to pay extra rates for this "benefit" I am sure they would consider this an unnecessary luxury.
Ron Croker
131c Bakers Road
Newmarket