Posted By Sally Bell
We own and manage a sheltered almshouse scheme for older people in a semi rural area. The scheme is made up of a Close of terraced houses and bungalows.

The Close is accessed by a road leading to the scheme from the main highway, this road has been adopted by the LA and is installed with street lighting.

In addition, we have for some years provided additional lighting on a timer to the external areas.

Recently we have been experiencing problems with this lighting, and I am now informed that one section is irrepairable.

We are considering our options, the obvious one is to replace like with like, however this is not a cheap option and the scheme in question is possibly going to be demolished in the next 2 years to make way for a new one (that actually meets the needs of the residents).

The alternative is to provide individual lights to each of the properties that are not covered by the remaining lighting that does work, however this would obviously mean that residents would actually have to turn them on if they wish to benefit.

Can anyone advise me as to the H&S perspective on external lighting - bear in mind that Street Lighting is provided to the Close (though it can be some distance from the properties as they have large gardens).

Would I be failing in some way by replacing with the cheaper option of individual lights?

Posted By Fred Pratley
Hi Sally,

It sounds like you need to ask some more in depth questions about what exactly is meant by "irrepairable".

Does it mean that the existing lamp heads are beyond economic repair. If so can the existing cables and posts be used with another type of lamp (there are some very cheap energy saving variants on the market). This could be an opportunity for a lighting supplier to demonstrate his wares (on the basis of new business in a couple of years time) and for you to experiment to see what will suit the new development best.

It will not look the same as the rest, but its only for a short time and you can put them on photocells rather than timers and experiment.

If you don't have vandalism problems, you could a string of low level garden lamps on a PIR along the garden path to the front door and just light the front garden gate with a small wall lamp on a photcell from each property.

The PIR is set inside the garden and turns the path lights on when you go through the gate.

Also, if the properties are sufficiently seperated from passers-by, I saw one scheme where PIR's were being used to work a small warning buzzer to tell the occupant that someone is coming to the door well before they rang the doorbell!

Hope this helps,

Fred