A £2.1m upgrade to all streetlights in Bassetlaw and Newark and Sherwood by moving them onto LED bulbs has been set in motion by Nottinghamshire County Council.

The council’s Cabinet has approved the investment, which will see 11,000 streetlights across the two districts replaced with carbon-saving bulbs.

Work will now get underway on converting the streetlights with completion expected by April 2023. 

It will be the final stage of the council’s streetlight LED conversion programme across Nottinghamshire’s seven district and borough councils.

The programme began in 2014, with 85,000 streetlights across the county already converted, resulting in 90,000 tonnes of carbon saved.

The LED conversion programme is seen as a ‘driving force’ towards Nottinghamshire County Council’s goal of becoming carbon neutral in all its activities by 2030. 

Councillor Neil Clarke MBE, the council’s Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment, said: “It is great news that thousands of streetlights will be upgraded in both Bassetlaw and Newark and Sherwood to carbon-saving LED bulbs.

“I’m pleased that we’ve agreed to provide the £2.1m needed to fund the transformation and look forward to our partners at Via East Midlands getting to work replacing the old lanterns. 

“The Bassetlaw and Newark and Sherwood streetlight improvements are the final two pieces of a hugely successful near-decade long programme by our highways team across our county.

“This is an investment which makes perfect sense, as failing to replace the old streetlights would result in increased maintenance costs for taxpayers and the risk of harm to our precious environment.”

Councillor Mike Adams, the council’s Environment Ambassador, said: “This excellent LED conversion programme - which has already saved thousands of tonnes of carbon - is a driving force behind our goal to become a carbon neutral council within the next eight years. 

“We’ve got plenty of other ongoing projects to help towards our 2030 target - including a carbon reduction plan for our council buildings and a hugely ambitious programme to plant thousands of new trees across Nottinghamshire’s green spaces. 

“All of this climate-friendly activity is part and parcel of meeting our Nottinghamshire Plan ambition to protect our environment and reduce the council’s carbon footprint.”