Details of when £45m street light replacement project will begin, and which areas will be dealt with first

Approved two years ago, the Smart Street Lighting Project will see 56,500 lights upgraded to LED bulbs, and around 15,600 ageing lighting columns replaced.

Details of how the scheme will be rolled out have now been revealed - with the Tong ward the first area of the District to get the new lights.

A new report on the scheme says the work will be rolled out one ward at a time - with work in Tong running from next week to early May.

Other wards in South Bradford will follow, with Bowling and Barkerend after, then Little Horton.

The work will move North, and is due to end in the Bingley Rural ward in March 2024.

Bradford Council says the project will drastically reduce the authority’s energy bills, with the new lights proving more environmentally friendly.

Council explains reasons for £45 million street light replacement plan

The report, which is being presented to Bradford’s Area Committees, says the work will save at least £1.5 million in energy bills a year, and save around £180 million over 50 years.

The scheme is being funded through a mix of a loan and borrowing.

The report went before members’s of the Bradford West Area Committee on Wednesday night.

Allun Preece, street lighting engineer at the Council, told members that the bulbs used in the District’s current street lights were no longer being manufactured - further necessitating the need for a change.

He said the contractor that will be carrying out much of the work began a survey of the District’s lights in September.

So far over 30,000 lighting columns have been surveyed.

The meeting heard that of these around 250 were deemed to have “serious structural conditions” and have been cut down.

Most of these will be replaced as part of the timetabled project, but if there are multiple columns that have been cut down in one area lights may be replaced sooner for safety reasons.

Mr Preece said the fact that existing bulbs were no longer available meant it currently took three times longer to replace faulty street lights than it did just a few years ago.

Some Councillors were unhappy with the timetable for the works.

Councillor Carol Thirkill (Lab, Clayton and Fairweather Green) pointed out that 23 street light columns in her ward had been cut down after the survey. She was shocked to hear that under the current timetable work would not take place in Clayton and Fairweather Green until late November.

When asked why there were so many “cut downs” in that ward, Mr Preece said it was likely down to age - most street lights in that area would have been installed at the same time, and so would also reach the end of their life at the same time.

Cllr Thirkill asked if the Council could re-prioritise the works so Bradford West took priority over Bradford South.

Mr Preece said the timetable was drawn up by the contractors - who had decided to work in the South and move North.

He said street lighting had been underfunded for years, adding: “Streetlighting has been underfunded for a significant amount of time as a result of various cuts in Government funding. It has been under funded and this is the result.

"We're unlikely to get this level of funding again."

The timetable of street light works

Ward Duration Start/Finish

Tong 30 days Tue 23/03/21 Mon 03/05/21

Bowling & Barkerend 30 days Tue 27/04/21 Mon 07/06/21

Little Horton 30 days Tue 01/06/21 Mon 12/07/21

Wibsey 30 days Tue 06/07/21 Mon 16/08/21

Wyke 30 days Tue 10/08/21 Mon 20/09/21

Royds 30 days Tue 14/09/21 Mon 25/10/21

Queensbury 30 days Tue 19/10/21 Mon 29/11/21

Clayton & Fairweather 30 days Tue 23/11/21 Mon 17/01/22

Great Horton 30 days Tue 11/01/22 Mon 21/02/22

City 30 days Tue 15/02/22 Mon 28/03/22

Bradford Moor 30 days Tue 22/03/22 Mon 02/05/22

Eccleshill 30 days Tue 26/04/22 Mon 06/06/22

Bolton & Undercliffe 30 days Tue 31/05/22 Mon 11/07/22

Manningham 30 days Tue 05/07/22 Mon 15/08/22

Toller 30 days Tue 09/08/22 Mon 19/09/22

Thornton & Allerton 30 days Tue 13/09/22 Mon 24/10/22

Heaton 30 days Tue 18/10/22 Mon 28/11/22

Windhill & Wrose 30 days Tue 22/11/22 Mon 16/01/23

Idle & Thackley 30 days Tue 10/01/23 Mon 20/02/23

Baildon 30 days Tue 14/02/23 Mon 27/03/23

Shipley 30 days Tue 21/03/23 Mon 01/05/23

Bingley 30 days Tue 25/04/23 Mon 05/06/23

Keighley East 30 days Tue 30/05/23 Mon 10/07/23

Keighley Central 30 days Tue 04/07/23 Mon 14/08/23

Keighley West 30 days Tue 08/08/23 Mon 18/09/23

Wharfedale 30 days Tue 12/09/23 Mon 23/10/23

Ilkley 30 days Tue 17/10/23 Mon 27/11/23

Craven 30 days Tue 21/11/23 Mon 15/01/24

Worth 30 days Tue 09/01/24 Mon 19/02/24

Bingley Rural 25 days Tue 13/02/24 Mon 18/03/24