PARTS of Kirklees could be left in the dark under plans to cut council spending.

A major street lighting review is being carried out to find ways of dimming down the council’s £1.8m bill for keeping our towns and villages brightly lit after dark.

Proposals will be drawn up for each area and the public will have the opportunity to have their say in public consultations before any changes are implemented.

The move could see lights in some areas dimmed or switched off between 10pm and 5am.

In rural parts, street lamps could be removed altogether as the council fights against soaring electricity prices.

Rutland said: “Looks like it’s time to paint the kerb edges white and buy a new torch (LED of course)!”

MartinE added: “How about turning some of the traffic lights off? I can think of a few we don’t need.”

Ginger had a question: “I often think when driving on some roads WHY are there so many street lights in close proximity to each other. Can’t they switch every other one off?

“In certain areas safety issues for pedestrians, and major junctions will need to be properly lit but I’m sure that we can manage to turn many lights off and it will not cause much disruption to our daily living and will save energy at the same time.”

ChrisJ thought the council could try to lower the bill at source: “As street lighting is unmetered and the bill is estimated based on the number of lights and their power consumption, KMC could try and renegotiate its contract with its supplier or just claim it has less lighting than it does?”

RSM, with a certain sense of irony, added: “Some Festival of Light, eh?”

Markmyword49 thought the savings should start closer to home: “Kirklees should be looking far more closely at energy savings on their premises.

“I know they keep telling us that they monitor their usage but like all other directives people ignore them after a while unless they are policed.

“We are told that the public will have input into which, where and at what times – but does anyone really believe that the decisions haven’t already been made?”

SuspiciousMinds wanted to go continental: “Some European countries now install motion detectors that switch the lights on when cars or pedestrians are detected. Otherwise the lights go out. Sometimes you need to spend money to save it. This would be a much better option to ensure the safety of people walking and even driving.”