1.    that subject to 2. below, Cabinet approve Option 3 – Telensa Central Management System, as set out in Section 7 of the submitted report, with borrowing for the sum of £2,261,870, including 5% contingency for the purchase and hosted service of Telensa Computer Management System, and 3,431 new LED lanterns to upgrade streetlighting in Torbay; and

2.    that Council be recommended to approve prudential borrowing of £2,261,870 including 5% contingency for the purchase and hosted service of Telensa Computer Management System, and 3,431 new LED lanterns to upgrade streetlighting in Torbay.

The proposal would enable the Council to fully maximise the potential of its streetlight assets and to use the asset in a different way.  Currently they would be viewed as either on or off, the computer management system of Telensa would allow the Council to set lighting levels and roll out dimming regimes.  The proposal importantly allows a degree of managing energy cost spikes that currently the Council has no control over, lights can be dimmed or switched off depending on the necessity of the situation to reduce energy costs in times of need.

Option 1: A business as usual (BAU) approach for our streetlighting inventory.

Under this option, the Council would continue with the current manual streetlighting system and processes.  This current system was outdated and limited in its capabilities, particularly in being able to implement energy efficient dimming regimes in both a cost effective and timely manner.

Option 2: To procure and install 3,431 Holophane LED lanterns for the remaining streetlight inventory that have not been upgraded as part of the current streetlighting LED replacement programme.  This option would bring the remaining streetlighting inventory up to modern standards in terms of their energy efficiency and could deliver an estimated £151,473 of annual energy savings and 127 tonnes of carbon emissions savings, for a cost of £896,968.

Option 3: Added to all the benefits of option 2, the implementation of the Central Management System solution would provide the Council’s Streetlighting Team with the ability to make real time changes to the streetlights and importantly implement a more energy efficient dimming regime in a timely and cost-effective manner.  This option would deliver £292,291 of energy savings and save 230 tonnes of carbon emissions, operational savings, create an adaptable system and deliver a range of co-benefits including environmental and health and wellbeing.  This was, therefore, the preferred option.

The decision in respect of 1. above will come into force and may be implemented on 1 December 2025 unless the call-in procedure is triggered (as set out in the Standing Orders in relation to Overview and Scrutiny).  The decision in respect of 2. above will be considered at the Council meeting on 11 December 2025.

The Council’s total spend on electricity and gas between April 2024 to March 2025 was £3,304,966.  The energy consumption of our streetlighting made up £777,683 of this total, making it the highest energy consuming asset on the Council asset list, and therefore key to explore solutions to reduce the energy consumption and make financial savings.  The current service model was the traditional method of lighting which was now very dated.

The Council’s current streetlighting system was too slow and costly to make changes to the streetlights.  Therefore, the Council needed to introduce innovative technologies that gave the Council the capacity to react to future events and permitted the Council to implement changes that delivered energy savings through proactive actions.

At the meeting Councillor Chris Lewis proposed and Councillor Bye seconded a motion that was agreed unanimously by the Cabinet, as set out above.

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