Ludlow street lights to be given more traditional look
A new "heritage style" design of street light is being worked on for use on the streets of an historic Shropshire town.
The design is being created following talks between Shropshire Council and various bodies in Ludlow, including Ludlow Civic Society.
It comes in response to concerns from the civic society that new eco-friendly LED street lights, which are being introduced by the county authority, would not fit in with the historic street scene of Ludlow town centre, much of which is a conservation area, because of its medieval and Georgian buildings.
John Farley, speaking for the civic society, said: "Representatives from the committee of the Ludlow Civic Society recently met with Jason Hughes, street lighting commissioner at Shropshire Council, plus Shropshire councillors Vivienne Parry and Tracey Huffer.
"The meeting was requested by the society regarding concerns that inappropriate lighting could appear in the town as the council progressively introduced LED street lighting.
"Jason explained the rationale for moving to LED lighting which would significantly reduce energy consumption and hence running costs, with environmental as well as financial benefits.
"The council has already applied LED upgrades to 12 per cent of street lighting across the county including that used in Shrewsbury and in Wem. It plans to roll out LED progressively across the remainder of the county over the next five years.
"As it does so, it replaces old light standards and fittings which have been installed on a random basis over the last 25 plus years. So far no date has been set for the upgrade to Ludlow lighting.
"Once a date has been set, the Council will enter into discussions with interested principal town bodies to agree a new heritage style of lamp standard to be installed throughout the conservation areas in the town.
"For the outlying areas of the town the council will install a new modern style of standard. This will result in a greatly improved streetscape and do away with the mish-mash of styles and materials currently to be seen around the town.
"Any lights which fail between now and the date of the full upgrade will be replaced by new LED lights. The council will inform in advance of replacement works by erecting notices on lighting columns with contact details for local residents should they have any queries," he said.
