At night, in Épron, it will be completely dark from the month of February.
But, here and there, public lighting will turn on for a few minutes, at the request of local residents, from their smartphone.
This village north of Caen (Calvados) will in turn test a Norman application, which has been in vogue for several months in a few French cities which are also experimenting with it.
"I light up my street", developed in the Eure, allows residents to temporarily turn on streetlights in their area using a geolocation system.
Enough to preserve the safety of a night out or return without leaving the city lit up all night.
This debate had animated the municipal council of Épron for a year.
“Elected officials wanted to turn off the lighting, recalls Franck Guéguéniat, the mayor of the town.
But it was still necessary to think about security and see how all this could work.
Our delegate for lighting, the SDEC (Departmental Energy Union of Calvados), offered us this application.
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Of the 10 electrical cabinets in Épron, 3 have been equipped with the small box required for the application. An investment of €1500 at the expense of the energy syndicate which could be synonymous with very significant savings for the village if the system were to be generalized. “Lighting would cost between €6,000 and €10,000 less for the municipality”, calculates Franck Guéguéniat, who also underlines “an environmental interest, because nocturnal public lighting disrupts ecosystems”.
An argument that hits home with Nadine, a local resident: “It seems like a good idea to me because too much lighting harms the environment.
And then few people walk around in the dark night, so we can afford to turn off.
I could try the app.
In urban areas, the question of safety at night arises when raising the hypothesis of lights out.
“The experiment will take place between midnight and 6 a.m.
These are not times when we go out a lot, confirms the mayor.
I am told about the elderly, who would not be very agile to use a mobile application, but, on the one hand, they manage better than they say and on the other hand, they are even less out at night !
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"These are not times when we go out a lot"
Franck Guéguéniat, the mayor of Épron
From February to April, Épron will therefore carry out the full-scale test on its 3 equipped sectors.
The others will remain in complete darkness, “which will make it possible to compare and refine the experimentation”, underlines Franck Guéguéniat.
The municipality highlights the ease of use of the application.
Just press a small light bulb to turn on the streetlights in the area for six minutes, a suitable duration according to the calculations of the developers.
"And if your phone falls into the hands of your children who are playing turning it on and off, the mechanism is blocked at some point", smiles the chosen one.
Épron joins a contingent of ten towns seduced by this Norman system for a few months.
Nocturnal animals and local finances can only rejoice.