Sir – The county council has made many sensible suggestions as to how to save money and reduce the carbon footprint associated with street furniture and lighting. The county is currently consulting parish councils.

Sadly, some of the information supplied appears misleading and some may simply be incorrect.

The county has asked parish councils to nominate lights that could safely be turned off during certain night hours on the assumption this will help to achieve the required objectives.

The proposal is said to be to turn the lights off between the hours of 0030 and 0530. In fact, this appears incorrect: during British Summer Time the lights will presumably switch off at 0130 and will not switch on again, if required, until 0630.

If successful, the county’s proposal would simply transfer costs to society as a whole. Persons wishing to study the arguments are referred to the many thoughtful articles available on the Internet.

Even in the county’s own terms, the cost argument may be flawed. The county buys its electricity on a special tariff. This takes account of the county’s willingness to buy electricity at night when demand is low. Reluctance to buy this electricity may simply lead to an increase in the unit tariff charged. Electricity is cheap at night because base load power stations have to be run continuously, it is simply impossible to turn them on and off like a light switch. It is therefore unclear that this proposal would have any effect on the carbon footprint: the power stations may have to continue to run whatever the demand.

There is ample evidence that good street lighting has many beneficial effects. Until the county justifies its assertions as to the cost savings and the environmental impact, the case for switching off lights at night remains unproven.

P Hawtin (Dr). Chairman

P Bowell (Mr), Chairman of the highways committee, Cumnor Parish Council