Agenda item

6.1

Ian Kirby, Technical Manager, Regeneration and Development Services, and Graeme Symonds, Network Director, Amey, gave a presentation on the Streets Ahead Action Plan on Street Lighting, including details of performance, as requested by the Committee at its meeting held on 9^th April 2014.

6.2

Mr Kirby reported on the actions relating to the communication of recurring faults to the public, the communication of updates to customers and Member-reported faults, the repair process for recurring faults and the improved performance being achieved.  Mr Symonds reported on further actions, including improvements made in terms of the process for street light installation, changes to the structure and supervisor roles within Amey’s Street Lighting Team, better co-ordination between the street lighting and footpath programmes, the employment of two District Network Operator designers, who were responsible for identifying the presence of the 5^th core network and giving approval for designs and redesigns prior to any required excavation works, and an extensive training programme to ensure the workforce was competent and safe.  The performance statistics highlighted improvements in terms of lights in operation, repair times, both in respect of Amey and Northern Powergrid, and the number of faults repaired by Northern Powergrid within 10 days, as at December 2013, and March and June 2014. 

6.3

Members of the Committee raised questions and the following responses were provided:-

·                Where possible, every effort was made to ensure that safe and suitable walking routes were provided for pedestrians where excavation works had taken place.  There had been some issues where there had been insufficient room to provide such alternative routes.

·                In terms of the sequencing of the works, standard practice was to complete the works from the outside to the inside of the highway, which comprised the street lighting, footpath and carriageway.  However, in some cases, there had been issues with regard to the street lighting, which had resulted in the works being completed the other way round in order to maintain progress.

·                It was not standard practice under the project to bolt down all the yellow boards used for diverted footpath routes.  A decision as to whether they were bolted down would be made on a risk assessment basis.

·                Some street lights were left on during the day for the purpose of powering up the network, when setting up the new lights.  It was appreciated that the public would be concerned about this practice, and efforts would be made to look at how the reasons behind this practice could be communicated to them.

·                Whilst there had been some level of progress in terms of improving the installation times in respect of the new street lights, it was still taking an average of five/six months to complete the process.  There were now three teams dealing solely with the installation of the new street lights, and two teams concentrating on resolving any outstanding issues with those street lights already installed, and this had resulted in a slight improvement in installation times.

·                It was accepted that a number of the problems regarding the street lights had not been resolved within the times specified.  This was mainly as a result of the large scale of the 5^th core network, which was not being identified until excavations had exposed the cable system, often leading to long delays whilst the necessary redesigns took place.

·                Amey were hoping that the improvements being implemented would result in new excavations being open for no longer than four weeks.

·                It was not possible for signs to be erected on barriers indicating when the excavations would be filled in due to the uncertain nature of the works required on any particular section of lighting cable.

·                The reason for the change in the time period in terms of some of resurfacing works in the Greystones area, from three to ten days, would be investigated, and a response provided to Councillor Neale Gibson.

·                Wherever possible, street lights were installed at the back of the footpath. Where this wasn't possible, and they had to be located at the front of the footpath, the new British Standards state that they should be situated a minimum distance of 800mm from the kerb.  In terms of the street light on Baslow Road, statutory undertakers’ equipment had prevented the column being located at the rear of the footpath, and because the designers rigidly followed the British Standards, the lighting column ended up in the middle of the pavement.  The issue had been identified and the street light had been moved to an alternative location on the other side of the road. As the British Standards had a reasonable practicability qualification, there was scope to reduce the 800mm distance in certain situations so, hopefully, the Baslow Road situation should not recur in the future.

6.4

RESOLVED: That the Committee:-

(a)       notes the information reported as part of the presentation, together with the responses to the questions raised, in particular, those issues relating to communication and the need for improvements in this area of the project in order to keep residents fully informed; and

(b)       requests that arrangements be made for Council officers and Amey to attend a future meeting of the Committee to provide a further update on progress.