Waltham Forest has slashed carbon emissions from its streetlights by 70% over the past decade, making it the council's biggest carbon reduction achievement. The Climate Scrutiny Committee met on Tuesday, 24 June 2025, to discuss the progress and future plans for the borough's street lighting.
The reduction is attributed to the rollout of energy-efficient LEDs as part of the concrete column replacement programme and the decarbonisation of the electricity grid. Street lighting accounts for 55% of the total carbon emissions across the council estate, making these improvements particularly impactful.
In response to the global energy crisis in 2022 and 2023, Waltham Forest Council invested £4 million into the street lighting network after energy costs doubled. The council is currently mid-way through the investment programme, but has already achieved an 18% reduction in energy consumption and will achieve a further reduction of 300 tonnes of carbon emitted per year once completed.
According to the report pack, an analysis of the lighting database in 2023 identified 16,692 luminaires on the network, with 5,699 (34%) already converted to LED. The average wattage could be reduced from 121W to 68W, resulting in a 43.8% energy reduction per installation.
The street lighting investment programme is divided into two phases:
- Phase 1 - Column Replacement - completed in 2024/25, replaced the remaining concrete columns (155) on the network.
- Phase 2 - Lantern Replacement - Due for completion by March 2027, involves structurally testing 2,700 high-energy-use lamp columns and replacing lanterns with energy-efficient LED equivalents.
The Climate Scrutiny Committee also reviewed the Climate Scrutiny Committee Forward Plan for the 25/26 cycle, the Action Tracker from the previous meeting, and the Recommendations Tracker.