Street Lighting + Public Roads and Parks + Community Titles and Retirement Living + Public Roads and Parks Your choice of street lights for public roads and parks is very limited. The reason is as follows: In new subdivisions, Energex/Ergon offer two street lighting tariffs to councils: Rate 2: lights installed by Council, but maintained by Energex/Ergon, Rate 3: lights installed and maintained by Council. Councils do not want the bother of maintaining street lights, so they generally avoid Rate 3. They insist that street lights in new estates be installed under Rate 2 conditions, i.e. the developer installs them (on behalf of Council) and Energex maintains them. For their part, Energex/Ergon refuse to maintain street lights other than those they carry in stock. So this generally limits developers to installing only the following types of street lights: standard (galvanized) poles and lanterns Sylvania "Nostalgia" lanterns on "Estate" poles Sylvania "Avenue" lanterns on "Estate" poles "Nostalgia" and "Avenue" lights cost about $200 more than standard galvanized street lights. They are available in a range of four standard colours: bottle green black, blue/grey ("Avenue" only) navy ("Nostalgia" only) Some photos illustrating these types and colours are displayed below. Hover cursor over images to see street light name. Click to see larger image. Understandably, councils require the type and colour of street lights to remain the same along each street. If an existing street is being extended, the new street lights must match the existing lights. "Nostalgia" and "Avenue" lights can only be used on minor roads. They cannot carry high-wattage lamps, which are required for major roads. They are also unsuitable for lighting LATM devices and roundabouts, where the Code requires higher levels of illumination. In those places, for small extra cost, we can paint the galvanised poles and and lanterns, so the overall appearance is maintained. + Community Titles and Retirement Living Complexes Street lights in community titles and retirement living developments are privately owned, so there is no limitation on the types that may be installed. We adopt the following guidelines: street lighting should satisfy the requirements of the Pedestrian Area Lighting Code - Category P4 (for public safety); obtrusive lighting should be minimised (a real issue where street lights are close to bedroom or living room windows). CPTED There is a growing movement in government and local authorities to adopt the principles of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED). One of these principles is to "illuminate potential areas of concealment to project illumination so that a human face is easily discernible from 15m." This generally requires bright, white light. Another CPTED principle is to illuminate only routes which can be used safely after dark. OBTRUSIVE LIGHTING The Australian Standard on Obtrusive Lighting (AS4282-1997) provides guidelines for the maximum values of obtrusive light which may fall on the windows of adjacent dwellings. It must be said that this is more of "wish list" than a mandatory standard, because public road lighting is specifically excluded. The reason is that it virtually impossible to achieve compliance and still illuminate roads adequately. For the same reason, it is also not possible to satisfy the requirements of the Obtrusive Lighting Code in community titles and retirement developments, and at the same time, give due consideration to CPTED principles. The two requirements are opposed to each other. Balance is required. BALANCED APPROACH NEEDED Bright lights, which illuminate the surrounding area, also throw more obtrusive light on adjacent dwellings. Lights which don't shine so brightly throw less obtrusive light, but more of them are required and this increases the total cost. A key factor is the lantern design. The most suitable lanterns direct their light downwards and sideways - not in front of or behind them. Another critical factor is the lantern mounting height. STREET LIGHTS PUT TO THE TEST We have put considerable time and effort into analysing the performance of a wide range of available street lights, against the requirements of the Pedestrian Area Lighting Code and the Obtrusive Lighting Code. This has enabled us to produce a selection of street lights that we can recommend as most suitable for the close confines of community titles and retirement developments. A comparison of key features of the selected lights follows. The "maximum spacing" is indicative only, but it gives an idea of how many lights might be required in a particular installation. The larger the maximum spacing, the fewer the lights required. Obviously this has a direct influence on the cost. RECOMMENDED STREET LIGHTS Lantern Lamp Pole Max. Spacing Obtrusive Light Performance Approx. Price (GST Incl.) Kim Archetype + shield 70w metal halide 100mm pipe 36m excellent $1,926 Bega 8082 57w fluorescent 100mm pipe 31m very good $2,500 Sylvania Urban aeroscreen 50w mercury vapour Estate 30m very good $900 AAL Largent 35w metal halide stepped 30m very good $2,980 Kim Solitaire + shield 50w metal halide stepped 37m good $2,800 Sylvania Nostalgia or Avenue 50w mercury vapour Estate 48m good $900 Bega 8071 57w fluorescent 100mm pipe 35m good $2,600 click an image to view installation >> The GST-inclusive prices quoted are approximate only. They are the total price of lantern and pole. Apart from the Sylvania lights, which are purchased from Energex, the lights use either fluorescent or metal halide lamps, which produce a whiter light than the blue light from the mercury vapour lamps in the Nostalgia or Avenue lanterns. All are available in the usual range of colours, however they can be supplied in any colour, for a small additional charge. The most commonly used street lights are the Sylvania Nostalgia or Avenue lights. They are very cheap, because we can arrange for our clients to purchase them direct from Energex. Their performance is quite good, but there are better lights, which are also more expensive. Of course we are not limited to just these street lights. Developers might prefer to nominate some other type. However we would not want to specify lights which were totally unsuited to this application. Many lights look good by day, but throw light in all directions. BOLLARDS We have not here addressed the use of bollards. Bollards serve a limited purpose, as they do not provide the illumination called for by CPTED principles. Their light is too close to the ground. Their function is little more than to serve as direction pointers on pathways. TALK TO US Clients are invited to discuss their preferred lighting with us at the start of the job.