Published: October 19, 2012
New decorative lights on Burnham-On-Sea seafront to be trialled

A trial of new decorative lights along Burnham's seafront is set to go-ahead after town councillors this week gave their backing to the scheme.

Resident Nick Whetstone outlined proposals to replace the current decorative lights along the seafront with low-cost LED lights instead.

He said the bulbs inside the lamps would be replaced with coloured LED units, as shown here, and would cut the council's electricity bill.

Nick explained: "The cost of converting each street lamp to LED's would be around £100 and they would save the council up to 85% on power consumption. The financial saving of converting the lights to LEDs, instead of erecting additional decorative lighting, would be £2,140 per year."

Cllr Helen Groves welcomed the proposal, saying it would be "cost effective, environmentally friendly and simple to install."

But several councillors voiced concerns about whether the lights would produce enough light for seafront walkers.

However, councillors on the Town Improvements Committee voted in favour of inviting Sedgemoor District Council to carry out a limited trial of the LED lights to assess their viability.

Town Clerk Eileen Shaw said the lights would only be introduced on the South Esplanade where the lights are not operated by the County Council.