New LED street lights

[Hesther]

I can't remember, its been going on so long it could have been a response to someone or maybe I am remembering incorrectly. But I think its pretty much common sense that replacing the lights should not create dark spots.

 

Its certainly worth contacting them to see what they have to say.

 

Thank you.

[Jacko Snott]

They are hideous: Any sane city would be complaining in droves to the council.

This is utterly blinding Guantanamo Bay style lighting that devalues the aesthetic of entire neighbourhoods and removes the sensation of night time entirely. How on earth can anybody actually like it! I am really perplexed. Do you like the feel of living in a supermarket car park/prison camp? For those of you that think this is modern/cutting edge/the future- you are entirely mistaken and deluded. This is third rate tacky shanty town lighting designed to make you feel like you are constantly being watched, which removes the sensation of any privacy you once had. These lights, of this obscene intensity and glare would rarely be seen in Central London (arguably a far more modern and cutting edge city) because residents actually recognise that they are hideous and are aware of the alternatives which are so much better and do not leave you feeling blinded whenever you look at them.

 

Whatever happened to preserving the traditional aesthetic of conservation areas: a legal obligation of the council? I now walk through conservation areas in Sheffield and see whole gardens bathed in icy blue light, bay windows appearing as though a search light is shining through them, trees being felled under bogus pretenses. Believe me somebody is having an absolute laugh at our expense and lining their pockets at the same time, with our money!

 

How to trash a conservation area:

1. destroy as many trees as you can using bogus claims about their health and the supposed disturbance they cause to the kerb

2. Install vile brighter than day lighting that you cannot look at for longer than a second

3. Once you have done that, nobody will care when planning regulations etc are contravened/bent as the area has already been devalued

 

The impact these lights have on the conservation area that I live in is utterly ghastly and I can only show my sympathy for the unfortunate souls that have to put up with their impact.

[AlexAtkin]

Brighter than day? As I already pointed out, they actually have a much lower output than the old lights but its in a spectrum our eyes are more adept at processing.

It doesn't feel remotely like day time with these lights, they merely make it safer by allowing you to see more clearly and reduce the drowsy effect that the old lights would cause.

 

When you are driving would you rather have a dull warm light that makes you fall asleep at the wheel, or a bright white light that keeps you awake and alert?

 

Do you not want to know if that blob in the road is a bin liner, a pot hole, a dead animal, or a log? It was impossible to tell before until your headlights hit it, even worse for cyclists as you would be too close to get out of the way and sometimes wouldn't even see the obstruction at all until you hit it.

 

These new lights are infinitely safer for pedestrians and cyclists, and very much for motorists too.

Edited January 8, 2016 by AlexAtkin

[hackey lad]

I don't know about being safer for cyclists or drivers but as a pedestrian I can tell you they are far dimmer than the old lights and no so called expert could convince me otherwise . I trust my own eyes

[Annie Bynnol]

"Dear Editor,

The impact these lights have on the National Park that I live in is utterly ghastly and I can only show my sympathy for the unfortunate souls that have to put up with their impact. The imposition of these sodium lights casting an orange glow over our streets, gardens and into our bedrooms creating a totally artificial and alien environment is evil. Replacing our lovely white light bulbs and mercury lights with this monstrous orange glow makes me think we live in a tin of baked beans.

 

Maybe one day in the future someone will invent and introduce a light which is similar to moonlight which is of course that natural colour associated with night."

 

Paraphrased but based on a real letter from a real councillor opposing the introduction of sodium lights in North Wales in 1973.

[AlexAtkin]

"Dear Editor,

The impact these lights have on the National Park that I live in is utterly ghastly and I can only show my sympathy for the unfortunate souls that have to put up with their impact. The imposition of these sodium lights casting an orange glow over our streets, gardens and into our bedrooms creating a totally artificial and alien environment is evil. Replacing our lovely white light bulbs and mercury lights with this monstrous orange glow makes me think we live in a tin of baked beans.

 

Maybe one day in the future someone will invent and introduce a light which is similar to moonlight which is of course that natural colour associated with night."

 

Paraphrased but based on a real letter from a real councillor opposing the introduction of sodium lights in North Wales in 1973.

 

Oh how fitting, especially as these new lights do exactly that - closer simulate moonlight.

[Jacko Snott]

They make driving more dangerous due to their intense glare. When driving up the Chesterfield Road, where they have installed the brightest of these 'monsters' (as one local resident referred to them), I have to use the sun visor in my car to prevent me from being blinded by them. For those of you that believe they are less bright or 'simulate moon light', please try looking directly at a bulb for 30 seconds or so, then see what it is like to look at objects in your car afterwards. It is a similar feeling to looking directly at a camera flash bulb, anything but the soothing light of the moon.

Every taxi driver I have spoken to in Sheffield detests them (apart from one who was saying how great it is that Amey are cutting a load of street trees down as well!). I hope that readers of this post recognise that it is certainly not a minority of people that detest this lighting, quite the opposite. Do not be tricked into believing that this vile lighting is in any way 'modern' acceptable or 'progressive'.

 

Equally unfortunate is that they have been tearing Sheffield's heritage in the form of the far better quality Victorian/Edwardian lamp posts which only needed a good lick of paint and a new lantern top. These are frequently being sold off on Ebay now. What a joke. I only fear for what will be done on streets like Endcliffe Hall Avenue where many of these fine traditional posts exist still. I've seen such old lamp posts shot blasted and painted in the London Borough of Camden. They look a thousand times better than this rubbish that Amey are installing. In the London Borough of Camden, they use dimmer, yellower LEDs in Regency style lantern tops and far shorter, traditional style lamp posts which look a good deal better. The council there would not dream of putting the rubbish that Sheffield Council have put in, people would be up in arms! Do not put up with the low grade junk that we are being tricked into believing is 'futuristic'. Junk is junk and nothing else, all can see it!

[1978]

Oh to bring back those flickering gas lamps, controlled by an 8 day clock to save the lamp lighter from having to come round each day to light them at night and then put them out again each morning. He still had to come round once a week to wind the clock and check the gas mantles. That all changed with a rush to electric about 60 years ago.

 

Progress is not new. We managed with gas lights because we'd known only darkness before, but I bet there were grouses even then.

[Jacko Snott]

Decline is not new either, nor is corruption, greed and deceit. I fear for what the public will be made to accept, even welcome, in the future if your voice is representative of the general public opinion. Thankfully I do not think it is, based on conversations I have on a daily basis with the people of Sheffield.

[kaytie]

I don't know about being safer for cyclists or drivers but as a pedestrian I can tell you they are far dimmer than the old lights and no so called expert could convince me otherwise . I trust my own eyes

 

I'll second that. Notice this not only when on foot but when driving I can now see my headlight beams whereas I never did with the old lights, when it would have been possible to overlook the fact if you'd forgotten to turn on your headlights. When first installed on my road the new lights seemed brighter and then after a short while seemed to go really dim. Detest them!