THE lights are set to go off in residential areas of Llanfoist, Llanellen, Govilon, Gilwern and Llanelly Hill between midnight and 6am as part of Monmouthshire County Council’s cost cutting drive.

The switch off will take place from Saturday, October 28 as part of the authority’s wider initiative to save expenditure on street lighting, contributing to a budget saving for the council.

 

The policy of switching off street lights in residential areas during the early hours of the morning was approved by the council in February 2014 and lights have already been turned off in residential areas of Abergavenny, Chepstow, Monmouth, Usk and other locations throughout the county.

It was decided at the time that no lights would be turned off in areas of traffic calming, pedestrian crossings or other high risk pedestrian areas and council street lighting officers have engaged with county councillors as well as town and community councils to determine areas where they consider street lights cannot be switched off.  

Monmouthshire’s cabinet member responsible for the county’s street lighting, Councillor Bryan Jones, said, “In previous years, we have been able to make significant savings through working more efficiently. 

“However, the scale of cuts in recent years means that we can’t avoid making savings that could impact on the communities we serve.  I understand entirely that many people won’t like the idea of streetlights being turned off but we have limited the hours when this will happen and I’m confident that we have done what we can to minimise the impact.”