Wisbech Park set for LED lighting upgrade

Street lighting is going green in Wisbech Park in a bid to save energy, increase public safety and improve reliability.

Fenland District Council is investing £12,800 replacing 12 existing street lights in the park with new lights using the latest, energy efficient LED technology.

The upgrade is being carried out as part of the Council’s street light replacement programme and is scheduled to start next month.

The Council will also be installing six new LED lights in the park at a cost of £10,400, with £4,000 of the funding coming from Tesco’s Bags of Help community grant scheme.

Cllr Peter Murphy, the Council’s Cabinet member responsible for parks and open spaces, said: “The LED lights will improve visibility, keep the park safe and well-lit for pedestrians and use 50 per cent less energy than conventional lamps. They will also reduce the number of lighting faults due to the LED’s reliability and reduce maintenance costs.”

The Bags of Help funding was awarded to the Council’s Active Fenland team and the Three Counties Running Club following their bid to secure additional lighting for the park.

Hundreds of shoppers voted for the initiative during a round of Bags of Help voting at Tesco Extra in Wisbech last year. Grants of £1k, £2k and £4k were available to three local community projects, with the Wisbech Park project scooping the top amount.

Three Counties coaches Gary Bligh and Richard Betts worked with Lauren Bremner, Active Fenland’s Senior Health and Active Lifestyle Officer, to secure the Tesco funding.

“This is great news for everyone in Wisbech,” said Gary. “A safer, better-lit park works for then whole community and will also give local running clubs a safer place to train during the dark evenings in winter.

“It was great to see the whole club pull together to ensure we won Tesco Bags of Help funding to contribute to the cost of the lights,” added Richard. “We are especially pleased that our Monday night ‘Trackless’ sessions with Active Fenland can now move to the park and away from the Police Station area that is becoming more developed.”

 The ‘Trackless’ running sessions are held on Monday nights, 7pm-8pm, and are open to

runners of all abilities.

 Beginners running sessions are held on Tuesday mornings, 9.30am-10.30am, and

Wednesday evenings, 6pm-7pm.

 For more information, visit: www.threecountiesrc.org