Controversial LED Street Lights Will Be Installed Across Chiswick

Council says it is not required to consult with residents on lighting

The controversial LED street lights first objected to by Park Road residents have now been installed in other areas of Grove Park and will be extended to other areas of Chiswick and eventually throughout the borough.

The deputy leader of Hounslow Council, Cllr Colin Ellar has responded to residents' complaints on the matter. Writing on the ChiswickW4 forum he said ; "It was never foreseen that there would be a street by street consultation in relation to changing the lighting units as this modernisation of the infrastructure is a fundamental part of the improvement process."

Photograph taken at 9.40pm on June 17th

He continued: "It will deliver state-of-the -art street lighting to residents and be more economic to operate. Consultation will however take place where appropriate in relation to road resurfacing and pavement renewal.

"I have been informed there is now a national standard for street lighting and that the contractor is required to meet that standard on all of these works. In Park Road the old lighting columns were not judged to have any heritage value and were replaced. However if any of these new lamps have not been correctly positioned then they will be moved at the contractor's cost. In other areas where the existing lighting does have heritage value then those columns will be replaced in keeping with the area."

Cllr Ellar said Vinci-Ringway now had day-to-day operational control over the contract although councillors and council officers were monitoring performance. They were now coming to the end of the first six months of the contract and there was starting to "a visible impact on the quality of roads, pavements and lighting".

"I am certain that the outcome of this massive investment will be a long term improvement but I understand that this level of change is something that has not been seen before and is at times unsettling for residents."

A spokesman for residents in Park Road, which is a conservation area, said that as lead councillor on the £800 million PFI government grant project, the councillor needed to refer to the LBH 'Street Scene Design Guide' of 15th October 2012. (see www.hounslowhighways.org)

"In Chapter 2, PRINCIPLES, the last section of paragraph 2 states very clearly, and I quote: 'All principles require the involvement of the community early on in the design process in order to achieve the aspirations of improved quality of life for the whole community in the London Borough of Hounslow'.

"It would be good to hear from other councillors on this issue, so that we can move forward to find an alternative design of street furniture that would be more appropriate for Conservation Areas."

The new street lamps are either 5 metre or 8 metres in height. It appears that the longer length ones are causing the most problems, particularly in Park Road because of the number of trees on the street. It is understood the Council arboriculturalist has recommended that four lamp standards be removed in Park Road.

Cllr Sam Hearn said ; "What Hounslow Highways and Councillor Ellar need to do (very quickly) is to advise local residents what alternative lamp stand options are available for conservation areas under the PFI contract and provide a workable mechanism for local residents to decide for themselves which they would prefer."

Mr. Andy Murray of the Grove Park Group said that he had attended a meeting with a representative of LBH last week along with eighteen resident's groups to give details of what they regarded as the varying quality of works undertaken by Hounslow Highways. He had given details of the situation with the LED lights in Park Road.

He suggested that people should write again to the Council and ask for something more 'suitable' for their streets, given that it was a 25-year multimillion pound project and the effects would remain into the next generation.

June 29, 2013