Replacing every street lamp in Falkirk district with low energy LED lanterns is “99.9 per cent complete” – with only the new roads around Westfield to be built and connected.
Swapping halogen street lamps for the long-lasting lights has already saved millions, members of Falkirk Council ‘s Scrutiny committee heard this week.
The report to members noted that “if this work had not been carried out over the last 10 years, the annual cost to the Council would be around £2 million more than current actual costs.”
Read more: Falkirk roads need more money to be kept in decent condition
Over the past 10 years, more than 26,900 streetlights have been fitted with LED ‘white light source’ lanterns.
This has reduced street lighting’s total annual energy consumption from 10,500,000 kw/hrs in 2014/15 to 4,400,000 kw/hrs in 2023/2.
It has also substantially reduced the tonnes of CO2 being produced, from 4215 to 941.
Members also heard that the improved reliability of LED lanterns resulted in the number of reported street lighting faults dropping by 32 per cent.
In 2024/25, 94 per cent of reported faults were repaired within five working days.
But there was a warning for councillors that a lack of funds could have an impact on future performance.
Council officers say investment of £2.4 million every year is required to maintain the condition of the street lighting stock – more than double the £1 million currently given for 2024/2025.
The report warns that “failure to address columns outwith service life may result in a serious accident”.
Manager David Maley told members that the strategy would have to change depending on funding levels.
He said: “Street lighting is a high performing service. Yes, of course that coincides with capital investment and if you maintain a steady investment then there won’t be as many faults reported.
“But if the current levels of funding continue and we see a bigger decrease in the lighting condition, we would have to consider the resources we are putting into the repair of lighting defects.”
Street lighting was part of the roads performance report to the Scrutiny Committee, which also highlighted the ongoing work to clean every gully in the district.
An extra £1 million was earmarked in this year’s budget to boost cleaning and maintenance of the council’s 35,000 gullies.
A previous report to Scrutiny had highlighted a poor performance, with high absence rates, staff vacancies, overall revenue budget reduction, and the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic all having an impact.
Extra funding of £150,000 has meant that in the first half of this financial year, 65 per cent of gullies have already been cleaned and the service is on course to complete the full network by the end of March 2025.
The total so far has already surpassed any full year totals in the previous years, including 2023/24 when just 27 per cent of gullies were cleaned.
Members heard that technology is being used to get data – recording things such as silt levels – that will allow gullies most in need of cleaning to be reached more often.
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