Evaluating EDF and LBE's Response to the SEAL 2007 Report

On 20^th February 2007, Save Ealing Antique Lampposts (SEAL) published the SEAL 2007 Report. On 28^th February 2007 SEAL along with representatives of local residents groups, and Salisbury Road residents met with Ealing Council Leader Jason Stacey and Councillor Will Brooks to discuss the contents of the report. On 31^st March 2007 Jason Stacey sent written comments on SEAL 2007  from the London Borough of Ealing (LBE) and EDF Energy to SEAL. In April 2007, SEAL published its in-depth reply to the LBE/EDF Energy comments.

All these documents and SEAL meeting minutes can be found on the SEAL page at www.westealingneighbours.org.uk

This document comprises a summary of the now 38 page long SEAL reply to the LBE/EDF Energy response to SEAL 2007.

-          No public consultation on the removal of Ealing's heritage street lighting

-          Compliance with UK/EU street lighting standards

-          The cost of upgrade, renovation and maintenance of our heritage lighting

-          Energy Conservation and CO2 emissions.

-          The 2005 LBE/EDF Energy Street Lighting PFI contract - and LBE/EDF Energy's willingness to vary the terms of it.

LBE's Final Business Case document (May 05) says they had met with resident associations. LBE now admits that no public consultation involving the thousands of residents' whose streets are lit by cast-iron antique lampposts took place. As Councillor Millican was bold enough to state in the Spring 2007 issue of the ‘Neighbours Paper' when talking about the pre-May 2007 Labour controlled LBE's handling of the street lighting issue ‘They hardly consulted anybody and not everybody seems to like the new lampposts'. Some Conservation Area Panels were consulted but most conservation areas have few or no cast-iron lampposts. Our in-depth reply lists a sample of just 51 of the cast-iron lamppost lit roads whose residents were not consulted.

Because of the heritage nature of this street furniture we would have expected LBE to consult with residents in streets which contained them. They did not. We would also have expected EDF to check with LBE that proper consultation had taken place over such heritage items before signing a contract that would remove them all. LBE and EDF are therefore both guilty of professional negligence and/or maladministration. 

The Street Lighting PFI states that throughout the 25 year contract EDF will conduct a full liaison  and consultation process with ...(to include)   community groups, residents and other relevant stakeholders '. So far information has been given, not consultation and much of the information given to residents concerning cast iron lampposts has contained misleading statements including that on British (BS) and European (EN) standards.

The Cran & Other-v-London Borough of Camden 1995 High Court Judgement outlines the consultation process:

‘The process of consultation must be fair. This requires that: consultation must take place while the proposals are still at a formative stage; those consulted must be provided with information which is accurate and sufficient to enable them to make a meaningful response; they must be given adequate time for their responses to be considered; the consulting party must consider the responses with a receptive mind and in a conscientious manner when reaching its decision'.

Residents and others appear to have been misled on these standards and their interpretation. A SEAL member has electrical engineering qualifications and is in contact with the Institution of Lighting Engineers so SEAL is well placed to comment on these matters.

The PFI prescribes the brightest of the standard lighting classes - S2 - for ALL Ealing's subsidiary residential roads. This does not reflect BS 5489 Table B4, the definitive standard for such matters. All of the 51 sample Ealing streets listed in SEAL's in-depth response can be regarded as having low traffic flow and low or moderate crime levels for which a lighting class from S3 to S6 is specified. Only if a street were to be regarded as having a normal traffic flow and a moderate crime rate does the S2 standard appear on the table. It is also important to realise that these

EU/UK streetlighting standards are advisory and not mandatory.  SEAL is more than confident that updated lanterns on our existing cast-iron antique lampposts can  achieve the S3 or S4 lighting level.  We believe a practical way forward is the selection of S3 or S4 for all the 51 and other residential, subsidiary roads. We further suggest that LBE/EDF Energy carry out cast-iron lamppost lantern update trials in the shortest of the 51 streets i.e. in Thurlow Road. 

The many and various technical queries raised by LBE/EDF Energy with regards fuses, access, wiring, cut-out, isolation, ingress protection are all adequately answered by our electrical engineer. Some of the queries do not contain references as to their source and further clarification on these points has been requested by SEAL. Full details can be found in our in-depth response on the SEAL page at www.westealingneighbours.org.uk.

SEAL has confirmed that the 6 metre column height much talked about by LBE/EDF Energy has no standards veracity whatsoever. In fact the EU/UK Street Lighting standards do not mandate any specific height, but merely list and describe factors which need to be taken into consideration such as nearby architecture, trees and aesthetics.

SEAL questions the LBE/EDF costing for upgrading the cast iron lampposts. Part of the estimate involves taking the lampposts out of the ground and shot blasting prior to renovation. SEAL thinks that LBE/EDF Energy has not successfully demonstrated the case for this process. As LBE in March 2007 renovated many antique cast-iron lampposts in situ around Little Ealing (‘Showcase Streets' initiative), the out-of-the-ground approach has been completely discredited by this in situ fait accompli. Painting these ‘Showcase Streets' antique, cast-iron lampposts gloss black is an abomination and shows a callous, philistine disrespect for Ealing's heritage. SEAL formally requests to be told how much the Little Ealing lamppost renovation project cost so that we all have some up to date renovation costings. SEAL also requests that these posts are repainted with cream tops and either dark green bases  (Edwardian heritage livery) or chocolate brown bases (Elizabethan heritage livery) during 2007.

LBE/EDF Energy's suggestion that ‘ for the residents in the street's affected to pay a levy on their Council Charge for the additional lighting and enhancements not enjoyed by other residents in Ealing' is outrageous. For London's 4^th largest borough and a £4 billion turnover public company to suggest this is almost beyond belief. LBE did not consult properly with residents and EDF Energy and LBE implied in the PFI that Public Consultation had taken place. We have requested that both LBE and EDF Energy consider how much past and present elected Officers, Members and corporate executives might contribute financially to compensate Ealing Council Charge and Business Rate payers for this maladministration.

4) Energy Conservation and CO2 emissions.

The PFI contract recommends lighting class S2 for all subsidiary residential roads. This is above what is required by British/European Standards in many roads. SEAL suggests the adoption of the standards-compliant S3 or S4 lighting class standard for suitable roads including those with antique lampposts. This will reduce the electricity used (over what would have been consumed by adopting S2) This will save LBE money and help to minimise CO2 emissions. Also as the cast-iron lampposts already exist there is no ‘green' penalty in re-using them - whereas to replace them would incur a  ‘green' expense as the new, steel columns would have to be manufactured.

This energy conservation issue is, as far as we can tell, not addressed in the PFI.

It is also a matter of concern that EDF Energy is a supplier of electricity as well as supplying lighting design and maintenance. Ealing Council Charge payers could see a conflict of interest in a company that on the one hand designs and maintains their street lighting and on the other hand is a potential supplier of electricity to power it.   

This 25 year PFI Contract is already showing signs of being unfit for purpose and needs to be varied in order to take account of the flawed process which preceded its coming into being and to give more flexibility over lighting levels. What of the next 23 years? Any such lengthy contract would need continual renegotiation to take account of changing circumstances.

It is our hope that EDF can find funds and innovatory methods to upgrade and maintain all the 1,100 cast-iron lampposts still standing and still working in the area defined in the Kehoe Report.

David Terry (Bid Director for EDF Energy) said in his ‘contract handshake' letter of 19^th May 2005 to LBE:

‘EDF Energy has the ambition to be recognised as the passionate, committed, caring, innovative and successful energy company, enabling its people to make a difference and welcomes the opportunity to work with Ealing Council to achieve the following objectives'.....‘ to care for our customers'..... ‘ To be safe and responsible to the environment and the communities we serve'.

It is unfortunate that EDF Energy in Ealing seems so far to have shown few of these characteristics in dealing with Ealing's residents and their heritage cast-iron lampposts. The British Standard BS 5489 emphasises a flexible approach to the design and provision of street lighting. In contrast LBE/EDF Energy's comments on the 2007 SEAL Report are permeated with stoic ‘can't do' dogma.

We offer a unique opportunity to EDF Energy to change their attitude and fulfil their vision statement. By using innovation, care and regard for the community we request that they accept the challenge to preserve the Borough of Ealing's heritage lampposts. the result would not only benefit Ealing, it would provide a national publicity and PR coup for EDF Energy.

SEAL

Tel: 020 7099 9036

Email: westealingneighbours@gmail.com

Web: www.westealingneighbours.org.uk

18^th April, 2007