Bristol Council targets unnecessary floodlighting
Bristol’s housing chief has launched a drive aimed at cutting unnecessary floodlighting and he is calling on the public to help identify possible targets.
Councillor Mark Wright, Cabinet Member for Housing and Service Improvement, said he was appealing for people living and working in Bristol who saw council-owned buildings being floodlit at unusual or very late hours to contact the authority so that they could switch them off at the right time.
Dr Wright, said: “As an astrophysicist I have a vested interest in reducing light pollution. But apart from this I want to cut unnecessary energy consumption which is contributing to our carbon footprint and is wasting taxpayers’ money.”
“Buildings would fall into three categories: “Those of heritage value, where lighting should be on until late, or occasionally, as with the Suspension Bridge, all night: buildings where timers are wrong or are not set, and can be fixed with a simple visit and other buildings where lighting is hard-wired. These will need to be added to a maintenance list to put them on timers.”
The issue arose after a resident who lives within sight of the Council House contacted Dr Wright to inform him that the floodlights appeared to be in use until 5am. A misaligned timer was the cause, and this was corrected.
Members of the public who want to let the council know about a building which they feel should not be floodlit are asked to call the council’s Customer Service Centre on 0117 9222 100 (option 4). The centre is open between 0830 hrs and 2000 hrs Monday to Friday.
