,street lighting

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marymck
Posts: 1579
Joined: 9 Feb 2008 16:30
Location: Upper Kirkdale

,street lighting

Post by marymck »

A few weeks ago I received a letter from Skanska, I believe a private company working on a joint croydon/lewisham project to change the street lighting in the two boroughs.

Our warm street lighting will all be changed to bright white lighting. I believe these bright white lights, which I'm told have the quality of daylight, may be fine on urban streets where there is streetlife 24/7 but I think it's unsuitable for suburban sydenham.

The lights will not only completely change the character of our streets but they will be brighter and set at the back of pavements, rather than at kerbside. Obviously this will have an impact on people's sleep.

Lewisham have already attacked my sleep by installing speed bumps. Now I'll be floodlit as well as deafened!

When I spoke to skanska they said we had until 2013 before work started here in upper kirkdale and that at least a month before starting work engineers would mark up the pavements and they would listen to any concerns and resite if necessary. But this evening an advance notice has appeared on the lampost opposite my bedroom window. They start work on the 17th!

Has anyone experienced the new lighting on their street yet?

Another concern of mine is to protect a beautiful old ornate street lamp beside my house. Similar to the ones in the Thorpes, but with twiddly bits. Skanska should apply for conservation area consent to change lamposts in conservation areas. I'm not aware that they've done so. I'll check tomorrow.

Be alert - the bright lights are coming your way! We may all need to invest in black out curtains and say goodbye to the night.

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Rachael
Posts: 2455
Joined: 23 Jan 2010 13:42
Location: Sydenham / Forest Hill Intersection

Re: ,street lighting

Post by Rachael »

There are a lot of these new lights already in Forest Hill and also lower Sydenham. If you want to see what they are like, look at the streets off Mayow Road (such as DeFrene and Adamsrill). The light is more focus than the old lamps so you may not have a problem. If you do, you can get it moved. There have been some badly sited new lamps in SE23 and people have got them moved. There is a detailed thread on SE23.com somewhere about this.

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Stefan
Posts: 22
Joined: 10 Aug 2011 10:21
Location: Forest Hill/Sydenham

Re: ,street lighting

Post by Stefan »

hi, I am living in a street with the new lighting and can only say it is such an improvement, the street feels much safer and I love the white light, makes all the gardens look great at night :D
marianne
Posts: 72
Joined: 14 Jan 2005 11:31
Location: sydenham

Re: ,street lighting

Post by marianne »

The new lighting is being installed outside my house at this very moment - I am near the Kirkdale end of Dartmouth Road, so watch out Mary - they are approaching .....
Tim Lund
Posts: 6718
Joined: 13 Mar 2008 18:10
Location: Silverdale

Re: ,street lighting

Post by Tim Lund »

Skanska came to the most recent Perry Vale Assembly and gave a very creditable account of what they were doing. I have one of these new lamps right outside my house, and I've not had any complaints from my daughter whose bedroom is on the street facing side of the house.
marymck
Posts: 1579
Joined: 9 Feb 2008 16:30
Location: Upper Kirkdale

Re: ,street lighting

Post by marymck »

Thanks for your replies.

Rshdunlop - I'll check out the streets you mention. Thanks.

Stefan - I would so hate to have my garden lit courtesy of a municipal lighting designer. I believe the night is the night and value the changing quality of light. We'll see what happens. It's nicely atmospheric at night now.

Crikey Marianne that's much, much sooner than Skanska said. Was there any consultation beforehand about positioning?

Tim - I don't know if they came to our local assembly. I will check to see if they supplied more accurate information than they did to me over the phone.

Thanks all.
marianne
Posts: 72
Joined: 14 Jan 2005 11:31
Location: sydenham

Re: ,street lighting

Post by marianne »

I just received the same letter from Skanska as you Annie, a couple of weeks ago. They have actually repositioned the new lamp about 10' along from the original one. It is in on the pavement rather than on the kerb and the old one to be removed some time in the future.
JRobinson
Posts: 1104
Joined: 5 Jan 2010 12:40
Location: De Frene Rd

Re: ,street lighting

Post by JRobinson »

the ones off Mayow road are taller, brighter, and hence further apart and fewer of them.
yes we have now lost all the old ornate ones which looked so nice, and we have almost daylight on our streets at nightime. I'm not sure what affect this will have on any wildlife - it probably hasn't even been considered by them (Skanska), or they don't care.
the new one opposite us is now shining into our bedroom, as it is taller than the predecessor. We will have to put in black out lining on our curtains. I'm sure if you contact Lewisham council and complain, they might compensate you for any cost involved here if its necessary for you.
Otherwise I'm told that there are covers available that can be fitted around the lamp head which reflect more light downwards, and less light out sideways, a bit like a skirt around the fitting. This could be requested, and might stop light going directly into your bedroom.
I think it's outrageous that they've decided to give us more light at night like this, we didn't even know about it till it happened, we didn't ask for it, it doesn't make the place any safer, and it will have a detrimental affect on the people and the wildlife!

Grrr!
Annie.
Posts: 2070
Joined: 11 May 2012 17:48

Re: ,street lighting

Post by Annie. »

marianne wrote:I just received the same letter from Skanska as you Annie, a couple of weeks ago. They have actually repositioned the new lamp about 10' along from the original one. It is in on the pavement rather than on the kerb and the old one to be removed some time in the future.
Sorry marianne, It wasnt me Who received a letter, I think it was Mary,
I only know about the new lights from this forum, I havent seen any official letters yet.

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marianne
Posts: 72
Joined: 14 Jan 2005 11:31
Location: sydenham

Re: ,street lighting

Post by marianne »

Sorry Annie - my mistake. My reply was, of course, for Mary. :oops:
marianne
Posts: 72
Joined: 14 Jan 2005 11:31
Location: sydenham

Re: ,street lighting

Post by marianne »

Just to add to my previous comments, two weeks ago, a new lamp was erected about 50 yards from the old one outside my house (which I was very pleased about). The other two original lamps at either end of the road are still there with no replacements and the three old lamps are still operating - the new one is not.

Good work Skanska!
JRobinson
Posts: 1104
Joined: 5 Jan 2010 12:40
Location: De Frene Rd

Re: ,street lighting

Post by JRobinson »

new street lighting is put in in stages by different contractors.
someone from Highways will dig the hole, someone from Street Lighting will arrange a contractor to put the new post in place, another electricity contractor from EDF will install and conect the power, someone else will then have to refill the hole, and repave, and then someone will turn on and activate the light, EDF will have to then unwire(dewire?) the old post, then someone else will remove the old post, and then someone else will repave where the old post was.
Each of these will have to be organised weeks in advance, so it happens quite often that there are days between each one occuring.
marianne
Posts: 72
Joined: 14 Jan 2005 11:31
Location: sydenham

Re: ,street lighting

Post by marianne »

Unbelievably, ten minutes after I wrote about the lamposts a guy from Skanska knocked on my door to say that they will be coming tomorrow to complete the job! He informed me that all three new lamps should be installed and working tomorrow and the old ones taken away....
sydenhamboy
Posts: 264
Joined: 8 Oct 2006 10:33
Location: sydenham

Re: ,street lighting

Post by sydenhamboy »

Horrible. There used to be nice 'orange' lights along Silverdale which I thought was easy on the eye and created a nice atmosphere at night. The new ones look like the lighting you get in shining on a supermarket car park. Aesthetically very unpleasing.
RachelF
Posts: 18
Joined: 25 Aug 2012 18:43

Re: ,street lighting

Post by RachelF »

They did this in West Norwood when I was living there. They put a lamp right outside my bedroom window on te house side of the pavement. (There was only about 6 ft of front 'yard' between the house and the pavement.) Had to buy blackout blinds.
We actually don't really have enough lamps on my road in Lower Sydenham... Are the new ones supposed to be better for the environment?
alywin
Posts: 936
Joined: 27 Aug 2009 12:33
Location: No longer in Sydenham

Re: ,street lighting

Post by alywin »

Thanks for the warning. I hope it doesn't come anywhere near our part of Sydenham - we already get too much light into the front of the house from streetlamps.

As for the effect on the local flora and fauna, my downstairs neighbour has installed those solar-powered lights in her garden, and they are already having a perceptible effect on the vegetation, at the very least.

BTW, why are Croydon and Lewisham doing a joint project? Do their boundaries even touch?
Rachael
Posts: 2455
Joined: 23 Jan 2010 13:42
Location: Sydenham / Forest Hill Intersection

Re: ,street lighting

Post by Rachael »

If I get a new light outside my house and it shines in my bedroom window, I'll get the council to either move it or install deflectors. Blackout blinds are just as bad for your sleep as strong street lights. Your body needs to be aware of the changing light.

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giorgio_ne
Posts: 8
Joined: 27 Jan 2012 11:04
Location: Sydenham

Re: ,street lighting

Post by giorgio_ne »

As an amateur astronomer I can only mourn any increase in light pollution in my back garden.

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perryman
Posts: 121
Joined: 4 Mar 2007 01:45
Location: perry vale

Re: ,street lighting

Post by perryman »

My understanding is each lamppost can be controlled remotely.
The eventual aim must be to turn the lights off in the dead of night in some random order.

I have mixed feelings on this.
It seems very wasteful for many residential streets to be fully lit through every night for very few pedestrians. It is expensive and polluting.

However presumably the roads are lit to the current level to deter crime, reduce car accidents, and allow the area to be easily monitored by patrols. And I guess we all feel safer too, in that if we had to go out, it looks safe. Which is perhaps most important of all.

Maybe a total blackout between 2Am and 5Am would actually reduce crime as people would alter their schedules/routes to avoid these creepy roads. Perhaps there would be less accidents as cars might drive slower in reduced light.

If and when lighting is reduced, I think it may be tricky to measure the effect.
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