Update on #ExeterPNSL

Back in December I was part of delegation of West Exe cllrs who met with officers dealing with part-night street lighting for Exeter.

One of the topics I raised was the lack of information about problems and progress.

This update from Devon County Council showing the progress in the implementation of part-night lighting in Exeter indicates they have taken note of those comments.

The update will be formally presented at the Exeter HATOC meeting of 27 January and will be revised monthly.

EXETER PART-NIGHT LIGHTING WORKS      

PROGRESS UPDATE – 16 December 2014

The implementation of part-night operation of street lights in Exeter began in September 2013 in Alphington and Cowick wards and involved the fitting of remote monitoring components into existing lanterns and replacement of existing lanterns that were not suitable. Similar work in Exwck and St Thomas wards began in October 2013.

Street lights in Alphington and Cowick started operating part-night in April 2014 and in Exwick and St Thomas in May 2014.

Each individual street light has a communication node fitted to it and up to 250 lighting units in an area are controlled by a Branch node located within the ward.

Communication between the nodes and branch, and between the branch and central control is via air-borne radio communication and can be accessed via the internet. So it is possible to allocate switching profiles to individual and groups of lights so that they can operate all-night or part-night.

The efficient operation of this remote monitoring system relies on good radio communications and the geographic location of branch controllers, so that command instructions can be issued as necessary. The lights themselves will operate during the day for a day or two when first commissioned and then operate dusk to dawn, or part-night as required. In some instances however, lights have been on during the day for longer than envisaged, either as a result of poor communications, or faulty components.

These issues have affected a small percentage of lights so far converted and the County Council has been working closely with the system manufacturer to resolve these problems. In the main, a re-mapping of nodes and their branch controllers have been sufficient to improve communications, but in some areas it has been necessary to install additional branch controllers.

The County Council will continue to work closely with the system manufacturer in implementing this new technology in Exeter and using it to its full potential.

Conversion work began in Duryard and Pennsylvania wards in June 2014 and lights started operating part-night in November 2014.

Conversion work began in St James ward in October 2014 and in St Davids ward in November, lights in both wards will remain operational all night.

The table below gives details of units converted to-date in each ward with the remaining provisional implementation programme shown in descending order.

WARD	PROGRESS	PART-NIGHT OPERATION	TOTAL NUMBER OF LIGHTS CONVERTED	TOTAL NUMBER OF LIGHTS OPERATING PART-NIGHT
Alphington	99% Complete *	Yes	1214	792
Cowick	99% Complete *	Yes	441	331
St Thomas	99% Complete *	Yes	398	305
Exwick	99% Complete *	Yes	889	190
Duryard	99% Complete *	Yes	193	143
Pennsylvania	99% Complete *	Yes	634	462
St James	99% Complete *	No	330	0
St Davids	99% Complete *	No	218	0
Priory	Branch & new units	Not Yet	18	0
St Leonards	Branch & new units	Not Yet	6	0
Newtown	Branch node only	No	1	0
Polsloe	Branch & new units	Not Yet	4	0
Pinhoe	Branch & new units	Not Yet	20	0
Mincinglake	Branch node only	Not Yet	1	0
Heavitree	Branch & new units	Not Yet	21	0
Whipton Barton	Branch & new units	Not Yet	8	0
St Loyes	Branch & new units	Not Yet	3	0
Topsham	Branch & new units	Not Yet	31	0

* Although conversion works are substantially complete, there are a small number of lanterns that are of modern architectural design, or classic heritage type, that are not suitable for immediate conversion with the remote monitoring system. These lanterns may also be expensive to replace, or still have quite a long working life remaining.

As technology develops and when the bulk of the works are complete in Exeter as a whole, the wards will be revisited to see if there are affordable solutions to address these remaining lanterns.

Branch nodes, which control over 200 lighting units, have been installed in all wards, more than one in some wards. The remote monitoring equipment has also been installed where lanterns have been replaced, or developments have been taking place. These wards will not operate part-night until conversion works are substantially complete.

#Exeter street lights will stay off on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve

At Devon County Council’s Full Council meeting on 11/12/14 , Cllr Roy Hill [LAB, Alphington/Cowick] asked a number of questions about part-night street lighting in Exeter.

One particular question was:

Re: Streetlighting on 24^th and 31^st December 2014

Would Councillor Hughes consider keeping on those street lights on 24^th and 31^st December which have been switched off as part of the night time part street lighting?

REPLY BY COUNCILLOR HUGHES

The remote monitoring system that we invested in for Exeter provides for the option to switch lights back on without having to visit each individual lighting column. This is not the case in other areas of Devon where the remote monitoring system does not operate. However, the operation of part-night lighting was developed and agreed through a process of public consultation and Member input. This was to ensure that street lights that need to remain on all night are not converted to part night operation and remain lit all night, for example in areas of high night time activity, on main roads and on walking home routes. So whilst I would consider lights remaining lit on the 24th and 31st December in Exeter, I would need to understand why this is any better than the scheme that has been the subject of public consultation and Member agreement.

The reasoning behind this particular question goes all the way back to June 2013 when DCC Cabinet Members and Highways/Street Lighting officers gave a briefing on PNSL to cllrs – of all hues and from both Exeter City Council and Devon County Council.

I’ve just checked through my notes, tweets, storify feeds and blogs, but I can’t find what I was looking for.

At that briefing, I distinctly remember one of the representatives telling us that the £1.7m computerised Central Management System would be able to revert back to all-night street lighting for “special occasions” when more people than normal may be out and about in the dark – and I believe he even mentioned New Year’s Eve!

Earlier today, Roy forwarded a formal written response to his question at Full Council which sheds some light [yes, pun intended] on how DCC view such a request

Whilst it is technically possible to switch all of the lights on in Exeter on the 24^th and 30^th December, I think it is unnecessary give the consultation on the scheme and the care we have taken to develop the Exeter scheme. 

We have agreed that certain routes and areas in Exeter will remain lit including:

• All main routes in the City,
• A network of walking home routes developed through the consultation process,
• Areas of high night time activity, like the city centre,
• Areas under public Order CCTV surveillance,
• Other lights agreed based on evidence and police support.

So, this leaves residential areas operating on a part night basis with the lights in those areas where Part-Night [Street] Lighting has been installed switching off between about 12:30 and coming back on at about 5:30. In these areas, people should be becoming familiar with the regime, which will operate throughout the year.

We have suggested that anyone planning to be out in a part-night lit area late at night carries a torch to illuminate part of their journey. 

The agreed approach on changing from part-night to full time operation of a light is to base a decision on evidence, which in needs to be supported by the police in the case of fear of crime. So, if there is any evidence that can be used to justify a change we can look at this but otherwise, given the process we have been through, I don’t see the need to make a wholesale change to the agreed scheme.

The response makes no mention of those “special occasions” when more people may be taking to the streets in the dark – and so it looks like the next “special occasion’ might be the arrival of the next millennium!

So if you’re planning to be out and out after midnight, please stay safe AND REMEMBER YOUR TORCH

.

Part-night street lighting West of Exe – a review meeting

So we’ve finally had that meeting to review how part-night street lighting has been working West of Exe – and from my perspective in Cowick.

Joining me were Cllr Roy Hill (Alphington/Cowick) and Cllr Rob Hannaford (Exwick/StThomas), who sit on Devon County Council and Cllr Margaret Clark who represents Alphington on Exeter City Council.

The meeting was confrontational and fiery as we 4 councillors tried to sum up your (and our) frustrations about PNSL. Here’s some of the key points

During the lead-up to the introduction of PNSL (which started in Alphington and Cowick on All Fools’ Day in 2014), we were told that Exeter was no different from the rest of Devon…what in reality this meant was that “implementing the policy was perceived as no different”

I challenged them that of course if was different as Exeter was to use a different system to the rest of Devon, where the street lights are switched on and off by a time-switch.

Part-night street lighting in Exeter is controlled by a brand-new £1.7m computer-based Central Management System [CMS] approved by DCC Cabinet at a meeting on 11 April 2012 which allowed for much more flexibility and control over Exeter’s street lights.

The report that went to that meeting said: “The system would enable the County Council to dim or switch-off street lighting for part of the night. It would enable a combination of the two, so that lighting levels could be reduced progressively as traffic and pedestrian flows fall off, and then switch off for a period of the night. It would allow part-night lights to be switched back on in an emergency. It would identify lamp failures and lamps reaching end of life thus enabling a targeted approach to lamp replacement”

I asked which system had been chosen and when. The officers from DCC confirmed that Harvard’s LeafNut system had been chosen, and  this was the preferred system referred to in the report that went to DCC Cabinet in April 2012.

Then the officers added something that came as something of a surprise…”there is no perfect system out there” . That’s what I wrote down at the time and is as close to verbatim as I can get,

So how does Harvard’s LeafNut CMS work?

LeafNut uses a TrunkNode central web server to communicate by GSM mobile phone to the BranchNode control units mounted in the light. The BranchNodes are in wireless communication with up to 256 LeafNodes, which are linked directly to an electronic ballast in each street light.

In setting-up the system, individual street lights need to be on (“day burn”) for a couple of days – No, I don’t know why, either!

When the area BranchNode loses contact with the individual LeafNodes, the whole system goes into a fail-safe” mode, which means that the street lights controlled by that BranchNode come on…even during the daytime!

Apparently, finding suitable locations for the BranchNodes is a matter of some “trial and error, however uncomfortable that may be” (close to a direct quote)

So this has led the officers to confirm to us that the implementation of PNSL “has not been problem-free” , there was “lots of hassle”, and they “were disappointed with the disruption” (again, direct quotes!). But the officers did confirm they were doing their best to reduce the impact of the problems

Whatever my thoughts on the PNSL policy, DCC were going to implement it across vast areas of Exeter, so I have taken the pragmatic approach to ensure that in practice the policy was as safe as possible. To this end, I welcomed DCC intention to be able switch on specific street lights “at the flick of a switch” if requested by Devon & Cornwall Police and other Blue Light services in emergency situations.

Through some recent correspondence, it became apparent that this system hasn’t been put in place, let alone tested, in the 7 months that street lights West of Exe have been operating as PNSL

And the officers’s response to my shock and anger this failing was that they didn’t see it as a priority and wanted to sort out the other problems besetting the system first. I AM HORRIFIED BY THIS STATEMENT and we’ve got an assurance that this will be dealt with within the next 2 weeks.

Now onto those 06:00 rather than 05;30 ends to the PNSL cycle. The initial report to DCC Cabinet said that the CMS would enable DCC to swtitch-off and DIM  street lights.

What was planned was that the lights would come back on at 05:30 and at 06:00 would start to progressively dim, until natural light levels would switch them off for the daytime.

A major computer software update took place and officers were *unaware*that they had to carry-out a two-part instruction to complete the update – this resulted in the switch-on and dimming phases both starting at 6a. Hopefully this is now rectified?

That led on to a discussion keeping residents up-to-date about progress on part-night street lighting.

When WoE councillors were told about the impending start of the big switch-off, my Cowick colleague (Cllr Heather Morris) was told that DCC would use traditional mainstream media.

What this meant in practice was that DCC issued a media release on 31/03/14 when PNSL came to Cowick at 00:30 on 01/04/14. Thus it was reported on the Express And Echo  website ahead of the switch-off but was only reported in the weekly print edition on 03/04/14.

But ahead of that, Heather and I did our best to make everyone in Cowick aware, whether face-to-face on the doorstep and meetings, in our newsletters and on social media presence. I know that I did at least 2 radio interviews with Matt Woodley for BBC Devon’s Good Morning Devon and one for Spotlight.

Since then , there’s been 3 issues of the Exeter Citizen, each with an insert from DCC but no mention of PNSL. Surely a publication delivered FREE to each and every household and business in Exeter would be a good vehicle to let the residents of Exeter keep up-to-date with the progress of PNSL? The officers didn’t know how to access those pages…we let them know.

With all the problems besetting PNSL over the river, you would have thought that this would be a good time to delay the roll-out to other parts of Exeter? But no, DCC issued a media release dated 17/11/14 for PNSL to start in the wards of Duryard and Pennsylvania on 19/11/14.

Yet during the meeting the officers let slip that it didn’t start there until “last night” (yes, another direct quote) –  that would have been 27/11/14, EIGHT days after the advertised date. No wonder, citizens of Exeter are confused about PNSL.

#CowickPNSL – 6 months (or so) on

The recent #CometLanding of the robot probe Philae on the icy 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on the back of the European Space Agency’s Rosetta satellite programme has got me looking skywards again.

And I quite often check the spot the station website  and then stand outside my front door to watch the International Space Station pass overhead and wonder what it might look like without the night blight of the street lights.

Those living West of the Exe can experience this. They are subject to a Devon County Council policy known as Part-Night Street Lighting whereby the street lights are switched off between 00:30 and 05:30 to reduce their carbon footprint and save money.

When I first heard of the plans, I was interested – what would Dark Skies over Exeter look like?

Just up the road, in November 2011 the night sky above Exmoor National Park was granted International Dark-Sky Reserve (IDR) status by the International Dark-Sky Association. The status means the night-sky is protected and lighting controls are in place to prevent light pollution.

It reminds me of my youth, camping under stars on Dartmoor – the dark skies were wonderful.

Delivering dark skies above Exeter, that’s a different  thing, isn’t it?. Well, according to Devon County Council, NO it isn’t!

They told me and my fellow councillors over and over again, it would be easy because they’ve converted villages and towns across Devon.

We begged to differ, and begged to exclude more streets from the nightly switch-off. For some areas, we were successful; in others, not.

In Cowick, we managed to add Cowick Lane, Buddle Lane and the walkway (“The Slip”) between Buddle Lane/Merrivale Road to DCC’s list  – that wasn’t very extensive, as it was only the B3121 Dunsford Road (probably the best candidate for switch-off, as for most of its length it’s a country road!).

Throughout the scant consultation process, I was keen to help DCC deliver PNSL in Cowick but only if they could prove it would be safe.

Since Cowick was converted to PNSL on 01 April 2014, we have been in regular contact with the Cowick & St THomas Neighbourhood Beat team from Devon & Cornwall Police – they send me monthly updates of crime statistics across the area, and these are showing NO increase in reported crime during the times of PNSL operation.

But my dealings with DCC have been more fraught. I’m highlighting them here as they will form a basis for my eagerly anticipated meeting to review how the introduction of PNSL has worked in Cowick and across West Exe.

1. Consultation

It took a lot of effort for local city and councillors to get DCC to agree to any form of meaningful engagement with the general public…they organised public consultation events across the city. However, despite our best efforts, DCC didn’t work too hard to advertise the meetings and as a consequence few members of the public turned up.

But DCC did agree to publish the results of these consultations (in February 2014)…and the page on their Street Lighting webpages is there waiting for the report.

“We have received over 85 comments, the majority of which have been in favour of the proposals.

The responses are being analysed and a summary of the responses will be posted on the website at the end of February 2014”

Elsewhere, DCC promise “A report on the Exeter Street Lighting consultation will be available in May 2014″

It’s now mid November 2014, and I haven’t seen this report. Where is it?

The formal public consultation meetings have now finished, however you are still able make your views known by using the comments form 

2. Safety

I’ve loudly and often that my main concern is that PNSL is delivered safely. DCC has several website pages dedicated to PNSL in Exeter, including a link to a Equality Impact and Needs Assessment for the Street Lighting policy – the trouble is that this assessment ran out in January 2013.

There is a new one in place (I’ve seen it, it’s hidden elsewhere on DCC site), so why isn’t it published on the dedicated website pages?

Indeed, this page promises “a final Impact Assessment will be available in May 2014″  so why hasn’t it there?

3. Map

Which streets will have their street lights switched off between 00:30 and 05:30? And which street lights will be left on?

There is a link to a map on the dedicated website.

The trouble is that it is the draft used in the consultation that ended in November 2013.

This shows that the only road to remain lit would be the B3121 Dunsford Road – the consultations managed to add Cowick Lane, Buddle lane and the cut-through to Merrivale Road to the list.

Leading up to the introduction of Cowick PNSl I asked for a new map to be published showing these alterations. I was told that this was on its way. Seven months on, why am I still waiting?

I also asked for a better form of mapping – zooming in on the pdf isn’t really suitable as the image is extremely blurred on a ward level, let alone on a street view. I was told that this was on its way. Seven months on, why am I still waiting?

4. Publicity

Having been concerned about how DCC publicised the public engagement and consultation events, my co-councillor for Cowick, Heather Morris, specifically asked DCC how they would advertise the introduction of PNSL to Cowick on All-Fools Day 2014.

She was keen for them to do a leaflet drop to every household in the ward – she was informed that DCC would use the traditional mainstream media.

In practice this meant issuing a press release on 31/03/14.

But not everyone reads the (weekly!) Express & Echo, watches Spotlight SW on BBC1 or listen to  BBC Radio Devon’s Good Morning, Devon. In my view not the best way to inform the 2,500 households and 5,500 residents of Cowick.

We tried our best with newsletter, tweets and Facebook postings, but again not the best way to contact a whole ward.

I hope that DCC will have learned their lesson..and will rethink their strategy on this when the roll-out across Exeter starts up again in the New Year.

5. Pilot

Since Cowick PNSL started, many residents have referred to this stage as a pilot  or trial.

Let me be clear about this – it is neither

Devon County Council WILL be implementing this policy across the city of Exeter – the roll-out for now has been stalled (whether by accident or design).

There have been delays to installing the equipment on the lamp housings across the rest of the city.

There been operational problems that have arising West of Exe.

Have DCC learned from these problems? I hope so!

6. Equipment

I know that DCC Cabinet approved a budget of £1.7m to be spent on a computer control management system but I’ve neve been told how the equipment (both the computer hardware and associated software) would work.

it seems that the main computer (at County Hall?) communicates with area controllers situated around the city, and it is these that actually control the switching on and off of individual street lights.

However, sometimes communication between the area controllers and the street lights fails – and as a safety default the street lights come on.

This is happening too often to be a minor problem.

Could it be that DCC (or their supplier) haven’t put in too few area controllers to cope with the terrain West of the Exe as a cost-saving measures?

7. Emergency situations

We were constantly told that in emergency situations, street lights could be switched on if requested by the police and other Blue Light Services.

At first, it was intimated at this could be achieved with a smartphone app…but the reality was that actually they would phone DCC’s Highway Operations Control Centre (hi @HughHOCC!) who would switch the relevant lights on).

It was revealed to Cllr Heather Morris earlier tnis week, that 7 months in, the software has been written but HAS NOT BEEN TRIALLED.

And when Heather asked if the lights could be switched on in Bowhay Lane and Kerswill Road as she had safety concerns over the Wales + West Utilities work, it took 4 days for this to happen.

DCC need to arrange a way that when such works are happening in future, there is a protocol in place for arrangements for the street lights to be left on.

8. Special Occasions

DCC have suggested that at New Year (and other such special events), they will arrange for the street lights be left on.

I’m now wondering if they can deliver this!

Too many questions are still unanswered 7 months after the street lights started being switched off.

We were promised a catch-up meeting 6 months into the policy…we’re still waiting.

he cynic in me is thinking that the DCC street lighting team are aware of our serious concerns and do not have the answers to satisfy us.

Meanwhile, where’s my Pietlzl head-torch?

T

Reflections on the introduction of #CowickPNSL

This week I’ve been thinking a lot about the Part-Night Street Lighting Policy as we highlight some problems with it’s implementation in Cowick

– street lights coming on during the day (identified a couple of months ago, problems with communication with area controllers, but still not resolved)

– lights coming on at 6am rather than the anticipated 5:30 (programming errors, apparently)

– how easy is it to revert to ALL night street lighting if road conditions (not very easily if the utilities works in Bowhay Lane are anything to go by)

– can the blue light services get street lights turned on “at the flick of a switch” in an emergency (not sure – the computer programme has been written but hasn’t been tested)

So, I’ve gone back to something I wrote earlier this year in response to concerns from local resident addressing their concerns about PNSL

This is what I said then:

Some thoughts on Part Night Street Lighting ahead of switch-off on 01/04/14

Over the past few years, I’ve spoken to many people – and received e-mails from others – about the introduction of part-night street lighting in Exeter, so much so that I’ve put together some thoughts

Many thanks for your comments on the plan to introduce part-night street lighting [PNSL]  throughout Exeter over the coming months.

I have taken a huge interest in this matter.

I have blogged on the subject – these can be found at:

10/06/13 | PNSL for Cowick

12/06/14 | Cowick PNSL

13/06/14 | Exeter PNSL

I’ve used twitter, facebook, written letters to the Express & Echo, been interviewed by the BBC for Spotlight SouthWest  (TV) and Good Morning Devon (radio). Much of this is summarised in these Storify articles:

12/06/14 | Is Devon County Council taking a dim view of Exeter with its *consultation* on PNSL?

16/06/14 | More of #ExeterPNSL

The journey to the introduction of PNSL in Exeter has been a long and hard road – let me try and summarise some of that journey ( search Express and Echo website for some of the background).

It is the upper-tier local authority Devon County Council (rather than Exeter City Council) that is responsible for street-lighting across the city. However they have no statutory duty to have them on throughout the night – they only have a specific duty to maintain those street lights that they do provide.

In 2006 DCC embarked on a carbon-reduction programme to reduce carbon footprint and save costs.

Currently DCC is repsonsible for over 72,00 street lights countywide (including 12,000 in Exeter), costing an estimated £3.4m in electricity (in 2011) and producing nearly 20,000 tonnes of CO₂  every year.This is about 30% of DCC’s annual emissions of almost 62,000 tonnes – the equivalent of the total annual enegry use ofg 7,3000 Devon homes or a town about the size of Honiton.

With the combined pressures of rising energy prices and the need to reduce emissions to prevent dangerous climate change, DCC  has decided that action is required to reduce energy consumption in street lighting.

A number of options have were assessed, and it was decided that  the most cost-effective solution is to follow the lead of the Highway Agency and turn off non-essential street lighting from 12:30am to 5:30am.

It is estimated that this could save up to 4,000 tonnes of CO2  and reduce the present energy bill by £450,000. These emissions savings would go a long way to meet both national and local emissions reduction targets.

DCC have come up with a PNSL policy which can be found at:

http://www.devon.gov.uk/streetlightingpolicypartnightlighting.pdf

INTRODUCTION

The aim of this Policy revision is to ensure that the following objectives are met:

• • Savings in energy consumption are actively pursued to reduce carbon emissions and the effect of rising energy costs

• • That the night-time safety of road users and members of the community is considered at all times.

• • That street lighting assists in the reduction of crime and fear of crime.

•   That good street lighting design minimises the effect on the environment whilst enhancing the night-time ambience

•  To provide public lighting that is cost effective, taking into account energy conservation and sustainability.

•  To identify criteria for the provision of street lighting and for duration and timing of lighting operation.

•  Existing part night lighting areas will not be changed to all night lighting except where there is evidence of night time crime occurring to no street lighting

•  Existing all night lighting will be maintained on designated A and B roads and other routes as agreed from time to time with local police and parish and town councils. Where appropriate, reduced lighting using dimming technology will be considered, together with part-night operation of certain routes subject to a risk- management approach.

To implement the policy DCC have come up with 2 options for street lighting across the county, depending on the location,:

• Part-night lighting in residential areas. Meaning that the hours that streetlights are on will be between dusk and 12:30am and again from 5:30am until dawn. Exceptions will apply where there are overriding safety issues.
• All night and late night dimming lighting on main roads and areas of high night-time activity, such as town centres. Street lights will remain lit all night, but consideration will be given to dimming lighting where possible.

DCC have been rolling out PNSL across the county since and first tried to introduce PNSL for Exeter in 2010.

In April 2012, DCC Cabinet approved a £1.7m investment in a new Street Lighting Monitoring System which would allow for much more flexibility in the operation of PNSL by providing direct control of every light connected to the system.

http://www.devon.gov.uk/loadtrimdocument?url=&filename=CDW/12/11.CMR&rn=12/WD405&dg=Public

DCC wanted to press ahead with introducing the PNSL scheme across Exeter last autumn, but direct intervention by Exeter Labour councillors   – both City and Country – meant there was a series of consultation events and presentations across the city.

We tried to get them to look at the option of replacing the current sodium lamps with LED lamps but they were not prepared to consider this.

Another concern we raised with the fear of increased crime due to PNSL.

We were told that in areas of Devon where PNSL has been introduced, there have been some isolated increases of crime, but the feared increases have not materialised and in some instances the police have reported that crime rates have fallen.

However, police will have access to the control equipment to switch the street lights back on if necessary, and DCC have told us that they will consider switching the lights back on if crime does increase.

Another concession that the Labour cllrs got was that the plans for PNSL would be rolled out in a phased way across the city ward by ward over a period of 12 months or so.

The initial plans for Cowick meant that the only major A and B roads that would remain lit  – and the only major road in the ward is the B3121 Pocombe Hill/Dunsford Road running Pocombe Bridge to the First and Last junction at Cowick Street.

The Labour councillors for Cowick thought that this wasn’t good enough – and pressed for Cowick Lane and Buddle Lane to be added to that list of “major roads”. It was also agreed that the lane running from Buddle Lane to Merrivale (alongside the entrance to Bowhill School and St Philips Court) would remain lit as a “walking route”.

DCC will continue to consider the effects of PNSL and will continue to consult until 6 month after the final areas are converted (the last wards are expected to be on PNSL by March 2015).

Members of the public can make comments on the PNSL scheme to DCC on the normal customer services phone number 0345 155 1004, but residents can also use the form on DCC’s dedicated website for Exeter PNSL

http://new.devon.gov.uk/streetlighting/part-night-lighting/partnightlighting-exeter/

They can also e-mail:

lighting@devon.gov.uk

or write in to:

Street Lighting, Devon County Council, Matford Lane offices, County Hall, Topsham Road, EXETER EX2 4QW.

I suggest that any comments on PNSL in Exeter are directed to DCC, but can I suggest that you keep your local (ECC and DCC) councillors informed on what you’ve said to Devon County Council

I have asked DCC to update their “dedicated” website on PNSL to take account of the new routes that will remain lit – and the current proposed schedule (DCC are reluctant on this point “as they wish to learn from the PNSL roll-out in Alphington and Cowick)

Like you, I am still waiting to see the comments on the consultation posted on the site – they were promised for the end of February!

I have been told that DCC plan to issue a media release in the next day or two to annouce the commencement of Exeter PNSL – I await this with interest

I am looking  forward to seeing the stars over Exeter over the coming months and I hope that the fear of crime is not realised by an increase in actual crime. By introducing PNSL, DCC will hope to save a significant amount of money – enabling them to protect other essential services.

But please be advised, I and my Cowick colleagues will continue to monitor how the PNSL policy affects residents in the ward.

The introduction of #CowickPNSL is summarised in these tweets:

31/04/14 | PNSL comes to Cowick

Open Letter to Cllr Stuart Hughes (DCC Cabinet Member for Highway Management and Flood Prevention)

Serious Concerns over PNSL in Cowick

Dear Stuart

I am getting extremely concerned over the delivery of PNSL in Cowick.

How can we have confidence in a system that seems to be failing in its basic operational requirements?

This week these failures seem to happening on an almost daily basis.

Street light reflected in car windscreen on Bowhay Lane

Putting aside the fact that in certain areas of Cowick, PNSL has been ending at 6am rather than the scheduled 5:30am, I learned earlier today (Friday 14/11/14) that Bowhay Lane was in pitch darkness again this morning as a shift worker left for work – this despite an assurance from DCC Street Light Team that for the duration of the utilities works there, PNSL would be suspended and Bowhay Lane would revert to ALL night street lighting.

This is doubly frustrating because at 13:30 yesterday afternoon (Thursday 13/11/14), although it was gloomy in Cowick Lane it by no means pitch black, yet the lights in Bowhay Lane (and Charnley Avenue, Isleworth Road, Nadder Park Road, Barley Farm Road – and many others that I may not be aware of) where on.

I’m guessing that this was a re-occurance of the problem we discovered a couple of months ago – that the central control management system lost communication with the area controllers. So DCC still haven’t resolved that problem

ALL day street lighting in Kerswill Road

Kerswill Road was also lit by street lights at this time – this is the self-same road that Cllr Heather Morris was accused of being “unfair” when she was pressing for an answer as to why they hadn’t been reverted to ALL night street street lighting after 4 days.

Is this an “unfair” request? I don’t think so.

During the numerous briefings, conversations, “consultations”, and e-mails, I and many others wanted reassurances that PNSL would be safe.

If you remember, DCC’s response was along the lines of “of course it is, we’ve introduced PNSL across many areas of the county without any problems”

But what they hadn’t done was use a new £1.7m control management system – controlled by a computer running new software.

We were constantly being told that in the case of emergencies and other safety concerns , street lights could be turned on “at the flick of a switch”.

Comments from DCC Street Lighting Team suggest that, although this programme has been written, no-one has thought it necessary (7 months after PNSL was introduced into Cowick) to see if this software actually works.

This scares and frightens me.

I was – and still am an advocate of PNSL – but only with the same proviso I had at the June 2013 “if I can be assured that the safety of Cowick’s residents would not be compromised”

Since the lights of Bowhay Lane and Kerswill Road apparently couldn’t be converted to ALL night street lighting “at the flick of a switch”, I feel that the safety of Cowick’s residents is now being compromised.

I’m not sure what you told Full Council in response to Cllr Richard Westlake’s question on 02/10/14 (The minutes only record “Councillor Hughes commented, as requested by Councillor Westlake, on the reduction of street lighting hours in Exeter”) but I feel that more questions need to be answered urgently.

We were promised a meeting with DCC street lighting team for a 6 month review of PNSL in Cowick (and elsewhere West of the Exe). With PNSL starting on 01/04/14, this meeting was due in early October.

As we are now approaching mid-November, the cynic in me is thinking that the DCC street lighting team are aware of our serious concerns and do not have the answers to satisfy us.

We need that meeting ASAP to discuss our valid apprehensions – it is essential for the residents of Cowick, and vital as PNSL is rolled-out across the rest of the city.

I await your response with interest

Paul