Hampshire, Southampton and West Sussex have been given the go ahead by the Treasury and the Department for Transport for a £225M private-finance initiative to upgrade local streetlights. The South Coast Streetlighting scheme will include upgrades to 165,000 streetlights as well as illuminated signs and bollards over the next 25 years, and is the largest of 31 PFI projects to be endorsed by the inter-departmental project review group since 1997. Hampshire County Council, Southampton City Council and West Sussex County Council now plan to start negotiations with the six firms which have expressed an interest in the scheme, before selecting a preferred contractor. Local district, parish and town councils will also be invited to include streetlights that they are responsible for in their own areas to be included in the final South Coast scheme. Work on the PFI contract is expected to start in late 2009, and the three councils have already said they will make maintenance and a speedy response to reported faults a key element of the winning bid. Southampton’s cabinet member for environment and transport, Cllr Gavin Dick, said: ‘‘This is a huge investment across a very wide area. The PFI is the only affordable way for the three councils to carry out this very necessary work in a timely and cost-effective manner. There are many advantages to this programme of stock replacement. ‘Energy will be used much more efficiently in the new columns, and they’ll utilise white light rather than the familiar orange glow. Light will also be directed down on to footways and roads, resulting in less light pollution in the night sky.’ Lieut Colonel Tex Pemberton, West Sussex cabinet member for highways and transport, said: ‘These factors will also help reduce crime and fear of crime, meet with approval from the region’s astronomers, help to stimulate the night-time economy and reassure the elderly. ‘As the PFI progresses, we’ll also be looking into elements such as part-night light – lights being switched off after a set time – or dimmable lights in certain areas. We’ll be working with local communities to find out their preferences.’ Transport minister, Rose Winterton, said: ‘Experience shows that better streetlighting helps improve road safety, as well as reducing crime and the fear of crime. ‘It also helps create happier and healthier local communities by promoting social inclusion and more sustainable patterns of transport by encouraging people to cycle and walk.’