28 Mar 2022: street lighting issues
Media: Local Democracy Reporter
Topic: Street lighting issues
Enquiry
We're hearing reports from the public a number of street lights haven't been working.
Locations include Amohau St, Pukuatua St, Fenton St, Te Ngae Rd, Malfroy Rd - particularly on Sunday evening.
There are also reports of lights off in Lynmore. Others claim street lights have been on "since Christmas" and haven't turned off.
Could the council please comment on any recent (last two weeks) issues with the street lights and the reasons for the issues, including how many requests for service it has received about street lights in the last two weeks? Could you please also summarise these requests for service and how they have been addressed? Are the issues at all related to the conversion of Rotorua's street lights to LEDs in 2020?
We sought clarification from the reporter as follows:
Re claims about street lights being on since Xmas – can you please tell me where this refers to?
Also, re the locations you’ve named, are we talking the whole street/road or big sections of these streets/roads or just issues with single street lights?
Reporter’s response to our request for clarification:
That info's provided for context/background on what's prompted the query - you don't need to provide comment or right of reply on those claims, just answers to the questions.
Of course if there have been requests for service about any of those things the council will already be aware of them.
Response
The following information was provided:
There are about 4500 streetlights on local roads throughout the city, excluding those on State Highways, so faults are to be expected and Council encourages people to report any issues they note so that these can be attended to as quickly as possible. Problems can be reported to Council 24/7 by calling 348 4199.
Re requests for service related to streetlighting during the past two weeks and how these were addressed, please see below:
Date and time | Location | Problem reported | How reported | Who attended | Outcome |
14/3/2022 (05:55:36) | Amohau St (SH30A) | Multiple lights out | Routine patrol | Unison advised | |
14/3/2022 (05:57:51) | Fenton St (northbound) | Multiple lights out | Routine patrol | Unison advised | |
14/3/2022 (10:26:37) | Browning Cres | Intermittent fault | Public call | Dispatched | Light operational when powered up. Relay or cable fault suspected. Following up this week to investigate further. |
14/3/2022 (12:33:44) | Johnston Cres - Otonga Rd walkway | Streetlight out | Public call | Dispatched | Light operational when powered up. Relay or cable fault suspected. Following up this week to investigate further. |
16/3/2022 (08:59:44) | Rowi St | Intermittent fault | Public call | Dispatched | Light operational when powered up. Relay or cable fault suspected. Following up this week to investigate further. |
16/3/2022 (10:52:43) | Browning Cres | Streetlight out | Public call | Dispatched | Light operational when powered up. Relay or cable fault suspected. Following up this week to investigate further. |
18/3/2022 (09:25:19) | Gwendoline St | Intermittent fault | Public call | Dispatched | Light day burning – lodging defect with Unison |
21/3/2022 (10:43:21 | Old Taupo Rd (SH5) | Other | Council | Dispatched | Light causing backspill – investigating solutions |
24/3/2022 (11:19:12) | Haumoana St | Streetlight out | Public call | Dispatched | Completing job this week |
25/3/2011 (16:05:09) | Island View Rd (State Highway lights) | Streetlight out | Public call | Dispatched | Completing job this week |
27/3/2022 (20:47:32) | Fenton St (Northbound) | Pole down | Emergency response | Dispatched | Site made safe. Pole to be replaced. |
28/3/2022 (11:56:10) | Island View Rd (State Highway lights) | Streetlight out | Public call | Dispatched | Completing job this week |
In the table above ‘Dispatched’ means Council’s local contractor was dispatched to investigate and fix. Unison is contacted when it is a power supply issue (see reference to Unison in table re Amohau and Fenton on 14/3/2022)
The same issue with multiple lights in a street indicates there could be a power supply issue so in these instances Unison is notified.
Council pays for power supply to streetlights for specified hours only and incurs no additional cost if lights are on outside of these specified hours.
For problems with single streetlights, Council’s lighting maintenance contractor is contacted to investigate and fix the issue.
Council maintains streetlighting on city streets/roads that are state highways (eg Te Ngae Road and Old Taupo Road) on behalf of Waka Kotahi.
No, none of the issues reported are related to street lighting having been converted to LED
