The Dorfen street lamps stay on

Created: 12/28/2022, 09:00

By: Timo Aichele

Provide security: street lamps.

© dpa

The Dorfen building committee is revising the energy-saving decision made in November.

Instead, the installation of LED lights is being pushed.

Dorfen

– A spectacular decision by Dorfen’s local politicians lasted just a month.

Street lights on residential and secondary roads should not be switched off after midnight to save electricity.

At its December meeting, the Construction and Transport Committee reversed the resolution that had only been passed by a large majority in November.

The reasons for the repositioning are the high costs of the changeover and, above all, a negative opinion from the police.

Instead of using less light, the city now wants to save electricity with more modern technology.

According to the new decision, the conversion of outdated lights to LED lamps should be accelerated.

However, this costs about half a million euros, with a 25 percent subsidy to be expected.

Subject to the budget deliberations, the exchange should take place by 2025.

In the area of ​​responsibility of Stadtwerke Dorfen alone there are 1300 street lamps.

Of these, almost 500 already light up with LEDs, and a further 300 are efficient NAV lamps.

That leaves 530 outdated NAV and tube lights, each of which would cost 800 euros to replace – all in all, 420,000 euros just for that.

"That should have paid for itself in 20 years," explains the head of the building authority, Franz Wandinger, when asked.

In its statement, the Dorfen Police Inspectorate had formulated security concerns about the shutdown.

"If the street lighting is switched off, there is a considerable risk that the number of burglaries will increase again significantly at this time," writes the inspection.

Especially in the dark season, the number of twilight burglaries increases anyway, because the criminal group likes to work under cover of darkness.

In addition, the police point out that municipalities are obliged to illuminate public streets in town if this is “urgently necessary”.

This is the wording in the Bavarian Roads and Roads Act.

Between midnight and 5 a.m. - the period when the lanterns should have been off - the traffic volume is not as high as during the day.

"And this is exactly where the danger lies," writes the inspection.

Vehicle drivers could drive too fast due to the low volume of traffic and, for example, recognize pedestrians crossing too late.

"To make matters worse, pedestrians who are out and about at this time are often returning from restaurants and events, who are often drunk," said the police.

In this context, it is quite conceivable that liability claims will be made against the municipality in the event of accidents.

The district office expressly agrees with the position of the police inspection.

The Freising State Building Authority also refers to the obligation to illuminate public roads.

However, the decision as to whether this is “urgently necessary” is at the discretion of the city.

The costs of the conversion also played a decisive role in the most recent decision.

As early as November, Wandinger had pointed out around 20,000 euros that would be incurred to mark the affected street lamps with a red "lantern ring".

also read

Munich Airport: Investigators discover two roasted antelopes in luggage

READ

3500 violations of Corona laws in the district of Erding

READ

Bettina's (24) dream comes true - a cake baker with a farm shop and her own café

READ

From beef to burgers: Erding's largest restaurateur is retiring

READ

"Cold structural adjustment": Clinic threatened by a Lauterbach earthquake

READ

Fancy a voyage of discovery?

My space

That was brought in relatively quickly with the electricity savings, argued applicant Martin Heilmeier (LDW) at the time.

With the still low kilowatt price of 36 cents, the city can save 14,000 euros in energy costs annually.

But now Wandinger has added further cost estimates.

According to him, the expenses would add up to around 50,000 euros.

According to Stadtwerke Dorfen, at least another 20,000 euros are needed to retrofit controls, separate circuits between main and side streets and, in some cases, install new fuses.

According to Wandinger, such work is also necessary in areas such as Schwindkirchen and Grüntegernbach, where the Haag power plants are responsible.

Heilmeier argued vehemently against the annulment of the decision.

During the debate, further proposals came from the committee, which have been incorporated into the new decision.

The following should now be checked: the switching off of individual lights, reduced lighting phases in the morning and in the evening, motion detectors on footpaths and cycle paths and maximum dimming.