A £1.4 million programme to upgrade thousands of street lights is set to start this April following the securing of Welsh Government funding.

There are over 18,000 street lights in Gwynedd, with 10,200 having already been upgraded to LED lighting, which is cheaper to operate and uses less energy.

But a report presented to the Cabinet this week confirmed that the Welsh Government has agreed to loan the authority £1.4m from its Green Growth Fund, meaning that the remaining 7,778 street lights will now also be converted to LED.

According to Gwynedd Council, the work will start in April with the project expected to take three years to complete.

Cllr Dafydd Meurig, addressing last Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, said: “This will bring savings both in energy and financial terms.

“I very much welcome the work that’s been carried out here.”

LED lights have an expected lifespan of 20 years compared to the two to five years for ones currently used in the county.

The council will have to pay back the Welsh Government’s loan, interest free, over a period of seven and a half years.

But according to the authority, the investment will save £185,000 a year in energy bills in addition to a reduction in its carbon emissions of 572 CO2.

Gwynedd Council expects the scheme to be completed by March 2022.

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