Alert Section

Street Lighting


Flintshire County Council will commence phase one of the 'part-night' street lighting units on 1st December 2015. This is a phased installation programmed across Flintshire aimed at reducing night time emissions and Flintshire's carbon output, whilst reducing upward light waste and intrusive light. This work will provide an on-going saving of approximately £12k for every 1000 units each year. For any queries please contact Streetscene.

Which street lights do the Council maintain?

Flintshire County Council's Street Lighting Team are responsible for the majority of the County's street lights.  Some street lights are owned by Community or Town Councils within Flintshire.  We maintain lighting on behalf of a number of the Community Councils.  We are also responsible for illuminated bollards and road sign lighting.  We do not maintain lighting on un-adopted roads.

How do I report a fault?

Regardless of ownership all street lights or illuminated traffic signs which are faulty can be reported in the following ways:

Report a problem online (will open an e-form)

Alternatively:

Please provide as much of the following information as possible:

  • Road name
  • Lamp number (this is located on a label on the post)
  • Location in road (e.g. reference to nearest house number/name) 
  • Nature of the fault with the light (e.g. lamp out, lit during the day, traffic damage, trees obscuring light) 

What happens next?

Your report will be sent to our Streetscene team. If you provided an email address you will receive an acknowledgement with your reference number followed by a progress update later. If you didn't provide an email you can contact streetscene@flintshire.gov.uk for an update.

How long will it take for a fault to be repaired?

Response times - Flintshire County Council

  • *Emergency call outs - Attend site in 2 hours:
    • damage to underground cable / overhead cable (FCC owned)
    • exposed cable / metal work reported as live
    • column door missing
    • lantern or bowl hanging
    • column or pole swaying in wind
    • structurally unsafe column or pole
  • Urgent fault - 1 working day:
    • lanterns or brackets turned or misaligned presenting a danger to the public
    • columns leaning but presenting no clear danger
    • bollard heads turned or misaligned presenting a danger to the public
    • miscellaneous faults deemed as a danger to the public
  • Faults in supply system affecting apparatus - Regional Electricity Company informed within 24 hours
  • Fault reported to Street Lighting section - 10 working days
  • Faults found on night time inspections - 7 consecutive days
  • Routine (cyclical maintenance) - 90 days

Response times - Mains faults (i.e. Scottish Power/Manweb)

Most street lights take their electricity from the mains supply so will fail if there is any loss of power or if there is a problem with the cable. We will report these faults to the electricity company.  The performance targets for electricity company responses are defined by OFGEM and are as follows:

  • Emergency fault repair response - Attend site in 2 hours
  • High priority fault repair, traffic light controlled - 2 calendar days
  • High priority fault repair, non traffic light controlled - Within 10 working days
  • Multiple unit fault repair - Within 20 working days
  • Single unit fault repair - Within 25 working days

A high priority fault repair is a fault which is considered to be urgent, for example at the site of an accident blackspot, major road junction or an area of public order concerns.

Street Lighting FAQs

1. Can A Street Light Be Moved?

Occasionally a street light may be located in a position which impedes construction works, such as the widening of a driveway or a new development. If you require a column or unit resituating please contact us for further guidance. We will provide a quote for the works and will require your written acceptance to the quote prior to commencing works. Email streetscene@flintshire.gov.uk / telephone 01352 701234.

2. Can I Attach Anything To A Lighting Column?

You may not use road lighting columns as supports for advertising signs of any kind unless you have been granted permission by us for the erection of short-term temporary direction or information signs. Usually only approved organisations such as the AA or RAC are permitted to erect these. You cannot erect banners, flags or wires between two or more road lighting columns.

You may not use road lighting columns as a support or source of electrical supply for decorations without our consent.

The provision of flower baskets or festive decorations is not a highway function but Flintshire will work with Parish or Community Councils to facilitate such enhancements to the environment. Street lights will need to be structurally tested to ensure that they are strong enough to support the additional loadings and the cost of the works will need to be met by the applicant.

3. Do You Inspect Lights?

Night time inspections are carried out every 14 days. Items checked include:

  • Lanterns which are dark or non operational
  • Lamps not fully run up or flickering
  • Lanterns turned or misaligned
  • Lanterns obscured by foliage
  • Lantern bowls hanging, missing or suffering major damage
  • Column doors missing
  • Brackets misaligned
  • Columns leaning

Routine maintenance is carried out annually. This includes:

  • Clean all lamps, reflectors and other components affecting optical performance
  • Examination of superficial damage, corrosion, chipping, flaking or cracking (concrete columns), cable deterioration, reporting condition.
  • Inspect all electrical items rectifying where necessary.
  • Check correct operation of photoelectric cell or associated switching device.
  • Adjust clocks to correct time where photoelectric cells are not fitted.

Non routine maintenance is carried out as required.

Bulk lamp changing of lamps takes place on main routes and in the town centre on a three and four year cycle.

Structural testing and inspection of columns is carried out every one, three and six years.

Electrical testing is carried out every six years.

4. Where Can I Find Information On New Or Replacement Street Lighting?

If you feel that street lighting needs to be upgraded or installed in your road, you should write to the Street Lighting Manager, Alltami Depot, Mold Road, Alltami, Flintshire CH7 6LG. Your request will be assessed to determine if it meets the criteria for new or improved lighting.

Column replacement programme

There is an annual rolling programme designed to identify and replace lighting columns or assets (within Flintshire County Councils remit) that are shown to be unsound and unsafe.

Criteria for replacement are:

  • Old, deteriorated and cracking columns at the end of their design life
  • Corroded metal columns
  • Incorrect spacing of existing columns
  • Sub standard electrical systems
  • Out dated scheme designs
  • Incorrect and ineffective lighting levels
  • Column styles or heights
  • Energy savings

We will achieve the upgrading and renewals (within budgetary constraints) by:

  • Undertaking any replacement / refurbishment of systems to current standards
  • Using the correct lighting sources for the correct locations
  • Considering localised dark spots for improvement
  • Considering Community and Police safety schemes

Installing new lighting

Street lighting may be installed as a safety measure on roads where there is a need to reduce night time accidents and in accordance with other traffic safety requirements.

New or improved street lighting may be installed in those problem areas prioritised by the crime and disorder partnerships.

Street lighting is installed on new housing estates where the streets (or footpaths) are to be adopted by Flintshire County Council. Developers will have to install lighting in accordance with our requirements and are responsible for all maintenance until formal adoption by the authority takes place. This occurs only after a thorough inspection by one of our street lighting coordinators.

5. What Are You Doing To Reduce Light Pollution And Energy Use?

Many lamps have automatic sensors which turn them on at dusk and off in the morning when there is sufficient natural light. Other lights are set to turn on and off at specific times depending on location e.g. if road is overshadowed by dense trees or is a known accident hotspot

Modern lamps and lanterns are designed with improved optical control to concentrate the light downwards onto the street rather than permit spillage upwards into the night sky. Any new lights that we install are designed to minimise light pollution in this way and older lights will gradually be replaced with these at the end of their life.

The street lighting department is exploring various ways to reduce Flintshire County Councils carbon footprint. These include:

  • Purchasing of green and renewable energy
  • New technologies that reduce energy use / the need for maintenance (e.g. LEDs, hybrid lamps and solar/wind powered devices)
  • Remote monitoring systems that reduce energy wastage and inspection frequencies.
  • Investigation into dimming at non peak times at suitable locations. (Some streets have already been dimmed between 2200 and 0600 resulting in energy savings of up to 70%)