Street Lights In Chiswick Still Causing Controversy

Sore eyes for locals as lights too bright or on during the day

The controversial LED street lights installed across Chiswick by Hounslow Highways continue to annoy and frustrate local people. Complaints have ranged from the fact that lights are on during the day, or are shining too brightly into people's homes or the columns are too high and hidden amongst trees.

One local has complained that the lights have been on during daylight hours continuously for months in the Stamford Brook Avenue, including Pleydell Avenue, Vaughan Avenue and Prebend Avenue.

Locals say the street lamp columns are too high

He said "I first contacted Hounslow regarding this in November 18 last year. The new lights (white bright etc) have been illuminated non-stop, all day, since then – what a waste of ratepayers money." The Council sent a generic response (see below) to the resident and he has not heard since.

 "Thank you for submitting your enquiry regarding Street Light On During The Day on Stamford Brook Avenue (Chiswick Homefields) via the Hounslow Highways website. Your enquiry has been uploaded onto our information management system and will be prioritised for an appropriate officer to action."

The corner of Marlborough road and Chiswick High Road

Another resident has sent us an image to illustrate how the street light outside his flat is so glaringly bright that he has to keep his blinds down constantly. He said:

"If I sit on my sofa the light is in my eyes and if I sit in my arm chair its also in my eyes. There's no escaping the bright led light which I may add is doing an excellent job of highlighting the tree branches that it sits beside".

When the new lights were first installed in Park Road, locals said they were unable to sleep due to the brightness. The lights are being installed in phases throughout Chiswick.

We have asked Hounslow Council for answers to residents' questions, including why the lights remain on during daylight hours in some areas of Chiswick.

The Hounslow Highways website has a number of answers to generic questions on the lights.

In relatiion to the lights being too bright and shining in bedroom windows it says:

The lighting is designed to a strict output specification and has to meet the right lighting level for your street. This is why it has the current level of brightness which cannot be changed. The council does have plans for future dimming and trimming which will be communicated to residents at a later date.

In relation to the different heights of the columms it says:

The basis for the street lighting design throughout the borough was to replace columns in their original positions, and not to install additional columns wherever possible, but we have to achieve a minimum lighting level. This can be achieved by putting a brighter, more widely focused lantern on a higher column where the existing columns were widely spaced for example. The lighting level for a road is influenced by the category of road, the volume of traffic using it, and the number of junctions. In this way, the column heights can vary in streets which are similar in appearance.

March 7, 2014