60 per cent of street lighting in Royston to be switched off

ROUGHLY 60 per cent of street lighting will be turned off in Royston as part of a Hertfordshire County Council scheme.

The authority is flicking the switch next month and county councillor Fiona Hill has been charged with consulting the town on the changes.

Cllr Hill has a draft of the areas affected by the decision to turn off lights between midnight and 6am and is currently gauging opinion on the plans.

She told the Crow: “In comparison to some areas in the county there is a lot still on in Royston and there are a lot of areas that don’t have restricted lighting.

“Obviously there are areas like the A10, places covered by CCTV and streets with traffic calming that are not affected.

“At the moment it just seems to be some of the estates, but some of them have traffic calming so it is very dotted about.

“Approximately 40 per cent of Royston will remain on but that isn’t from a final map.”

Herts CC will turn off roughly 70 per cent of lighting in North Herts next month although areas with a significant night time economy, road traffic obstructions and CCTV cameras will be left.

The body decided on the move in a bid to cut costs, saving �1.3million a year, and reduce its carbon footprint.

Despite releasing draft maps detailing the changes to county councillors, County Hall would not disclose any information to the Crow.

A spokesman for the authority said: “ Because of all the local work with local members we want the roll out to go as smooth as possible, we don’t want to commission anything until we get the details locally. We are currently in discussions with local members.

“When that is finished that is when we the information and will have more detail.”