Are these the shortest lived streetlamps?

[Truvelo]

On this new development there are modern streetlamps with heritage columns next to them. I would assume the heritage columns will be retained and the plain ones removed. To replace streetlamps before the road is even finished seems a shocking waste of money or lack of joined up thinking.

[Divine]

On this new development there are modern streetlamps with heritage columns next to them. I would assume the heritage columns will be retained and the plain ones removed. To replace streetlamps before the road is even finished seems a shocking waste of money or lack of joined up thinking.

Wow, that Libra looks fine. Stupid idea. Kirklees decided to replace and crap LED after 4-5 months and have done this a few times. They are replacing them with equally as bad and ugly LEDS!

[Bryn666]

It is entirely likely the conditions of planning consent called for heritage lighting, and the local authority has refused to adopt the plain columns as they were not as per the agreed specifications. The replacement would therefore be entirely at the cost of the developer.

We have absolutely no skill in designing aesthetically pleasing columns and lanterns these days it seems. There used to be a time when a lighting column was seen as an integral part of the street scene and a badly designed one would detract from the area.

[Robert Kilcoyne]

We have absolutely no skill in designing aesthetically pleasing columns and lanterns these days it seems. There used to be a time when a lighting column was seen as an integral part of the street scene and a badly designed one would detract from the area.

The older concrete and steel columns had varied and sometimes very ornate designs, and therefore had character. Sadly, the newer columns are often very uniform in design with short brackets and the LED lanterns now being installed look very similar. You could hardly ever say that the old mercury and SOX lanterns looked bland; the designs were distinctive and you could easily distinguish a GEC Turtle from a GEC Dioptrion or a GEC Clearmain or a Revo Silverblue. Similarly, you could not mistake a GEC Z9454 for a Thorn Alpha 1, a Revo Dalek or a Philips MA50. So many councils, as a result of PFI, are now rolling out identikit column and lantern combinations; Birmingham, for example, has adopted the WRTL Airtrace 2 as its main road lighting but the Airtrace 2 is even appearing on side roads.

[scott125]

We have absolutely no skill in designing aesthetically pleasing columns and lanterns these days it seems. There used to be a time when a lighting column was seen as an integral part of the street scene and a badly designed one would detract from the area.

The older concrete and steel columns had varied and sometimes very ornate designs, and therefore had character. Sadly, the newer columns are often very uniform in design with short brackets and the LED lanterns now being installed look very similar. You could hardly ever say that the old mercury and SOX lanterns looked bland; the designs were distinctive and you could easily distinguish a GEC Turtle from a GEC Dioptrion or a GEC Clearmain or a Revo Silverblue. Similarly, you could not mistake a GEC Z9454 for a Thorn Alpha 1, a Revo Dalek or a Philips MA50. So many councils, as a result of PFI, are now rolling out identikit column and lantern combinations; Birmingham, for example, has adopted the WRTL Airtrace 2 as its main road lighting but the Airtrace 2 is even appearing on side roads.

Thats why i love Glasgows lighting its so varied , theres a couple of lanterns ive never seen outside Glasgow too .

[boliston]

Why bother putting "character" lamp posts on an ugly Barrett estate completely devoid of any character
"polish a ***d" comes to mind

[Yorkie]

From this shot it looks more like the 'heritage' ones weren't adoptable https://goo.gl/maps/pMtg8ev5zsm (or maybe they put nice looking ones up until the houses have sold) Notice too the houses built with a 'missing' window. Not exactly a good look to me

[Truvelo]

I think you're right. Looking at a few more of them the tarmac around the plain columns has been disturbed suggesting thev've been put in afterwards. It wouldn't surprise me if the heritage columns are only there to entice buyers like they put metal fencing around the front gardens of show homes which disappears when the development is complete.

[tipsynurse]

Neither are pleasant but I think the heritage ones look worse, so out of keeping with obviously new houses.

I have a few friends who live in brand new houses and they are just terrible, horrible road layouts, vehicles lining every street due to inadequate parking, and only token green spaces.

Even small things like here where they have built a porch over a window as well as the door... not an aesthetically pleasing look IMO.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.45252 ... 312!8i6656

[Bfivethousand]

And here's the opposite situation - a traditional Welsh village which is now illuminated by fugly out-of-place modern street lighting. Which, for some reason, are positioned opposite each other through the centre of the village.

[Divine]

And here's the opposite situation - a traditional Welsh village which is now illuminated by fugly out-of-place modern street lighting. Which, for some reason, are positioned opposite each other through the centre of the village.

Well, aren't they ugly? They need to swap them out!

[Bryn666]

Someone tried to make a statement... it just looks naff.

[Patrick Harper]

We have absolutely no skill in designing aesthetically pleasing columns and lanterns these days it seems. There used to be a time when a lighting column was seen as an integral part of the street scene and a badly designed one would detract from the area.

Manufacturers usually prioritise economy, engineering and construction quality over aesthetics, and TBH I don't disagree with that stance. That said, LED luminaires don't tend to be a great match for the standard config of being mounted post-top on a column, suspended systems would allow for more uniform light distribution as they did for SOX in the 70s and 80s.

[Bryn666]

Aesthetics in an urban area should be a far bigger concern than it is. There's no civic pride any more.

You can buy a cheap embellishment kit from most column manufacturers that just fits on an existing bland column but no-one even wants to do that because the priority is just 'spend the least possible', who cares if it makes your town look like a dump?

[Divine]

Aesthetics in an urban area should be a far bigger concern than it is. There's no civic pride any more.

You can buy a cheap embellishment kit from most column manufacturers that just fits on an existing bland column but no-one even wants to do that because the priority is just 'spend the least possible', who cares if it makes your town look like a dump?

True. The UK is falling apart! This is just one of the many reasons. Why can't councils just spend the little extra on something decent that actually doesn't break within 4 months or actually looks good. That Welsh village has been ruined by the ugly, out of place, columns and lights...

[haymansafc]

I've complained for many years that today's streetlighting seems to be designed to be as bland as possible – and almost always post-top. I used to regularly comment on it during my early years on here… There's no thought to what interesting designs of columns and lanterns could be used. It's a case of plonk a galvanised steel pole into the ground and find whatever the cheapest SON or LED lantern is available at the time. There's no paint used, no features and seemingly no interest from planners. We've lost so many characterful columns and recognisable lanterns over the last 20 years. Many of which used to define specific regions.

I don't really mind the use of heritage lanterns or the 'artistic' types. At least they show there's still at least some interest in their design, but they need to be used in the correct circumstances... What's missing in the streetlighting market is an 'in-between' column. Something that's not there to make a statement about it's surroundings, but has more interest in it than the generic post-top.

Heritage Lanterns on modern housing estates where the houses don't even look as if they've been designed to look old doesn't look right at all. Whilst I find them more interesting in this circumstance as linked at the start of the thread, I do feel they're wasted there. Again though, it could be down to the planning consents put in place…

And here's the opposite situation - a traditional Welsh village which is now illuminated by fugly out-of-place modern street lighting. Which, for some reason, are positioned opposite each other through the centre of the village.

Crikey . Talk about being 'overkill' with lighting, never mind completely out of character! Those are the sorts of columns you find on recently developed or redeveloped areas. Not in traditional town centres... I always thought what we have here on Whitby Road in Ellesmere Port (the 'traditional high street') was pretty bad, but your example takes it to another level.

[Reading]

When Reading carried out an area Enhancement on the Oxford Rd they installed architecturally ornate streetlights but soon realised they cost loads to maintain and so they were replaced if you look in the 2009 GSV you can see them https://goo.gl/maps/CGJmyXsxDk22 but gone by 2012 version https://goo.gl/maps/EnU5LRSWe812

[roadtester]

The Cambrideshire street lighting PFI seems to have involved replacing pretty much all of the existing streetlamps, including some that are only a few years old.

[WHBM]

Shortest lived streetlamps were on the A13 Canning Town flyover, replaced when it was rebuilt some years ago, they were demolished by an HGV accident before they had even been switched on.

It's a very unlucky location. The extension of the DLR from Canning Town to Stratford was similarly just completed but not switched on when the main power supply cables right under the same A13 bridge, a huge amount of copper, were stolen ... TWICE. It delayed the opening by several months, mostly down to arguments between contractor and client over whose responsibility it was. The cost was not insignificant.

[Glenn A]

Newcastle, until the mid noughties, had a massive variety of street lighting that dated from the fifties to the eighties, although sadly the converted tram poles had been eliminated by the early nineties. It was like a Heinz 57 varieties in the city and most of the street lights were in perfectly good condition and some were quite recent when they were replaced. Then there was a switch to a uniform design, with the larger lights on main roads resembling black biros and being completely devoid of character.