Mad solar-powered streetlights on N1

This weekend they completed the installation of, I guess, 50 solar powered
street lights on the part of the N1 that runs from Queen Margaret University
in Musselburgh to Newcraighall. Next week end the vandals arrive with bolt
cutters to take away the large lead-acid batteries mounted on the ground,
The following weekend the more athletic neds will be up the poles to
steal/smash the huge solar panels, leaving the way clear for the lamps
themselves to be used for air rifle practice.

Surely Sustrans should be objecting to this ludicrous waste of cash and
quite unnecessary addition to rural street lighting? It should demand to see
the environmental impact assessment.

The lights were on this morning at 0630 and will now permanently spoil a
decent running and cycling path.

Last weekend, just half a mile from this spot, I saw an otter on the Esk -
we cannot allow the Esk path to be mutilated like this.

Heads must roll - the lights certainly will.

Geoff

Geoff Pearson wrote:

This weekend they completed the installation of, I guess, 50 solar powered
street lights on the part of the N1 that runs from Queen Margaret University
in Musselburgh to Newcraighall. Next week end the vandals arrive with bolt
cutters to take away the large lead-acid batteries mounted on the ground,
The following weekend the more athletic neds will be up the poles to
steal/smash the huge solar panels, leaving the way clear for the lamps
themselves to be used for air rifle practice.

Surely Sustrans should be objecting to this ludicrous waste of cash and
quite unnecessary addition to rural street lighting? It should demand to see
the environmental impact assessment.

The lights were on this morning at 0630 and will now permanently spoil a
decent running and cycling path.

Last weekend, just half a mile from this spot, I saw an otter on the Esk -
we cannot allow the Esk path to be mutilated like this.

Heads must roll - the lights certainly will.

*N*1?

On 30 Mar, 10:53, "Geoff Pearson" wrote:
This weekend they completed the installation of, I guess, 50 solar powered
street lights on the part of the N1 that runs from Queen Margaret University
in Musselburgh to Newcraighall. Next week end the vandals arrive with bolt
cutters to take away the large lead-acid batteries mounted on the ground,
The following weekend the more athletic neds will be up the poles to
steal/smash the huge solar panels, leaving the way clear for the lamps
themselves to be used for air rifle practice.

Surely Sustrans should be objecting to this ludicrous waste of cash and
quite unnecessary addition to rural street lighting? It should demand to see
the environmental impact assessment.

The lights were on this morning at 0630 and will now permanently spoil a
decent running and cycling path.

If the batteries have been nicked, and the solar panels are going, and
the lights will be shot out, surely it's not going to cause much of a
problem.

Geoff Pearson wrote:
This weekend they completed the installation of, I guess, 50 solar powered
street lights on the part of the N1 that runs from Queen Margaret University
in Musselburgh to Newcraighall. Next week end the vandals arrive with bolt
cutters to take away the large lead-acid batteries mounted on the ground,
The following weekend the more athletic neds will be up the poles to
steal/smash the huge solar panels, leaving the way clear for the lamps
themselves to be used for air rifle practice.

Surely Sustrans should be objecting to this ludicrous waste of cash and
quite unnecessary addition to rural street lighting? It should demand to see
the environmental impact assessment.

The lights were on this morning at 0630 and will now permanently spoil a
decent running and cycling path.

Last weekend, just half a mile from this spot, I saw an otter on the Esk -
we cannot allow the Esk path to be mutilated like this.

Heads must roll - the lights certainly will.

Geoff


I can understand your concerns about them being trashed but I don't get
how they will spoil the path? Do they block off part of the path (now
that would be stupid). Is it the council who have added them? They do
sound like the sort of "sustainable" (as long as they are not stolen)
kind of solution they might go for. Is the potential light pollution the
problem?

Tracker (who may understand the problem better if he can find a picture
of the lights :-) )

"JNugent" wrote in message
...
Geoff Pearson wrote:

This weekend they completed the installation of, I guess, 50 solar
powered street lights on the part of the N1 that runs from Queen Margaret
University in Musselburgh to Newcraighall. Next week end the vandals
arrive with bolt cutters to take away the large lead-acid batteries
mounted on the ground, The following weekend the more athletic neds will
be up the poles to steal/smash the huge solar panels, leaving the way
clear for the lamps themselves to be used for air rifle practice.

Surely Sustrans should be objecting to this ludicrous waste of cash and
quite unnecessary addition to rural street lighting? It should demand to
see the environmental impact assessment.

The lights were on this morning at 0630 and will now permanently spoil a
decent running and cycling path.

Last weekend, just half a mile from this spot, I saw an otter on the
Esk - we cannot allow the Esk path to be mutilated like this.

Heads must roll - the lights certainly will.

*N*1?

National Cycle Route Number 1

"Tracker1972" wrote in
message ...
Geoff Pearson wrote:
This weekend they completed the installation of, I guess, 50 solar
powered street lights on the part of the N1 that runs from Queen Margaret
University in Musselburgh to Newcraighall. Next week end the vandals
arrive with bolt cutters to take away the large lead-acid batteries
mounted on the ground, The following weekend the more athletic neds will
be up the poles to steal/smash the huge solar panels, leaving the way
clear for the lamps themselves to be used for air rifle practice.

Surely Sustrans should be objecting to this ludicrous waste of cash and
quite unnecessary addition to rural street lighting? It should demand to
see the environmental impact assessment.

The lights were on this morning at 0630 and will now permanently spoil a
decent running and cycling path.

Last weekend, just half a mile from this spot, I saw an otter on the
Esk - we cannot allow the Esk path to be mutilated like this.

Heads must roll - the lights certainly will.

Geoff
I can understand your concerns about them being trashed but I don't get
how they will spoil the path? Do they block off part of the path (now that
would be stupid). Is it the council who have added them? They do sound
like the sort of "sustainable" (as long as they are not stolen) kind of
solution they might go for. Is the potential light pollution the problem?

Tracker (who may understand the problem better if he can find a picture of
the lights :-) )

I don't want a light every 25 metres on a path which runs through fields
where I can still see the stars.

Geoff Pearson wrote:

I don't want a light every 25 metres on a path which runs through fields
where I can still see the stars.

I'm amazed you can see more than a handful of the brightest stars
anywhere near Edinburgh.

Tracker1972 wrote:

Geoff Pearson wrote:
This weekend they completed the installation of, I guess, 50 solar
powered street lights on the part of the N1 that runs from Queen Margaret
University
in Musselburgh to Newcraighall.

'Queen Margaret University'? What next? 'The University of Newcraighall
Kindergarten'? However...

The lights were on this morning at 0630 and will now permanently spoil a
decent running and cycling path.

Last weekend, just half a mile from this spot, I saw an otter on the Esk
- we cannot allow the Esk path to be mutilated like this.

I can understand your concerns about them being trashed but I don't get
how they will spoil the path? Do they block off part of the path (now
that would be stupid). Is it the council who have added them? They do
sound like the sort of "sustainable" (as long as they are not stolen)
kind of solution they might go for. Is the potential light pollution the
problem?

Tracker (who may understand the problem better if he can find a picture
of the lights :-) )

I see both sides of this, as usual. Light pollution is a major problem. Most
people under fifty have never seen a starry sky (and, indeed, not only have
no idea what they're missing but have no idea that there's something to be
missed). On the roads we're conducting arms races with brighter and
brighter lights which do indeed leave everyone blind. And, no matter
how 'sustainable' these street lights are, they are still not nearly as
sustainable as no lights at all.

On the other hand, people genuinely (and, in our urban areas, reasonably)
fear being attacked in dark, lonely places. Adding lighting will make the
path feel safer at night, so more people may use it; and if more people do
use it, then it will become safer.

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; L'etat c'est moi -- Louis XVI
;; I... we... the Government -- Tony Blair

"TheMgt" wrote in message
.. .
Geoff Pearson wrote:

I don't want a light every 25 metres on a path which runs through fields
where I can still see the stars.

I'm amazed you can see more than a handful of the brightest stars
anywhere near Edinburgh.

You need to be out and away from street lights more than 20 minutes - by the
time you get to Haddington the sky is full!

Geoff Pearson wrote:


"TheMgt" wrote in message
.. .
Geoff Pearson wrote:

I don't want a light every 25 metres on a path which runs through fields
where I can still see the stars.

I'm amazed you can see more than a handful of the brightest stars
anywhere near Edinburgh.

You need to be out and away from street lights more than 20 minutes - by
the time you get to Haddington the sky is full!

You can see a starry sky from the west coast of the Outer Hebrides if you're
lucky. You'll see fewer than 10% of the visible stars from anywhere in the
central belt.

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; All in all you're just another hick in the mall
-- Drink C'lloid