Waste of money?

wush06

Hi, all these lamposts are being replaced in my area in Clondalkin. There must be about 100 in all. For love nor money I cannot see much wrong with the old lamposts. In fairness some look a bit rusted but I'm sure these could be sanded, a bit of primer and a lick of paint and they'd be just fine. If it's an energy saving thing surely new bulbs would do the job. I see this as a big waste of taxpayers money. This work has been going on for about 8 weeks now including Sundays and I'd say the lads are on big money. Unless there is very good reason for replacing these poles like health and safety or saving our planet, I think the money could be put to better use in the area.

Have you tried contacting the council to ask them why? Or even ask the workers?

wush06

foreign wrote: »

Have you tried contacting the council to ask them why? Or even ask the workers?

Well I don't think the workers will know or care for that matter. I will be on to the council and the local T.D
But it does look like it's a waste of money to me but will see what they say and report back.

Little Alex

A wild guess would be that maybe they use a more energy efficient type of bulb, LED for example, and that they use far less power. Maybe the initial outlay is then recouped after a couple of years.

Just a guess, mind.

Heroditas

Little Alex wrote: »

A wild guess would be that maybe they use a more energy efficient type of bulb, LED for example, and that they use far less power. Maybe the initial outlay is then recouped after a couple of years.

Just a guess, mind.

The councils have to reduce their energy consumption by 33% by 2020.
Over 80% of that consumption is in public lighting and pumping stations.
Replacing the lights is one of the ways to hit the target and the payback times for projects like these are usually only a couple of years. The new lamps also have increased burning hours between replacement so this cuts down on maintenance costs too.