Category: News

Hillingdon Council is pioneering hybrid wind and solar-powered street lights to help reduce its carbon footprint while keeping people safe.

The council has trialled the new lights at six locations across the borough where there is a need for lighting, but no live source of electricity.

The new street lights use energy-efficient LED bulbs that use less power than traditional bulbs and can be powered by the sun via a solar panel, or via the wind using the turbine at the top of the column. An in-built battery retains enough power to keep the lights going through periods of low sun and wind.

The council had installed the lights at the Civic Centre and on the St Andrew’s Roundabout in Uxbridge, with two more at the Grainges car park in Uxbridge and one at each of two council housing estates in South Road, West Drayton and Melrose Close, Hayes.

The plan is now to roll the lights out further, with 10 more planned for the St Andrew’s housing estate in Uxbridge and a further 10 in the car park of Minet County Park, in Hayes. Each column has reduced CO2 levels and running costs compared to normal bulbs.

Hillingdon Council is the first in west London to take up the new technology as part of its commitment to ensuring residents stay safe, while addressing the climate emergency.

Cllr Eddie Lavery, Hillingdon Council’s Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services, said: “We’re committed to ensuring Hillingdon is a green and sustainable borough where residents feel safe.

“These new street lights solve the issue of installing good lighting where there’s no electricity source, which is ideal for a borough like ours where there’s lots of open space.

“They save the expense and environmental impact of having to connect remote locations to the electricity grid, and being self-powered, don’t cost the council anything to run.

“These are the kinds of emerging technologies we’re keen to embrace and champion as we push towards a greener and more sustainable Hillingdon.”

Hillingdon Council has launched a competition for local primary aged children, those who find the most creative and sustainable ways to store food waste indoors, will win a prize.

Primary school-aged children (4 to 11 years) are tasked with finding or repurposing a container in their home, such as an ice cream tub or old lunchbox, that could be used as a food waste caddy.

The initiative encourages children and their families to learn about food waste recycling and its benefits to the environment. It helps people reduce waste, save money and be more sustainable by reusing items in different ways.

The competition has three categories:

• Best recycled/reused food waste container
• Best food waste reduction idea
• Best waste less, spend less idea

The competition will run until 25 June, with students invited to submit photographs of their creations. There will be an entry form for each of the three categories, with a maximum limit of 100 words for any further explanation of the children’s ideas. Primary aged children can enter one, two or all three categories.

Hillingdon council offers food waste recycling to every school in Hillingdon and provides interactive sessions and posters for classrooms, to help children with their food waste recycling.

Cllr Eddie Lavery, Hillingdon Council’s Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services, said: “Recycling food waste is a small change to your household routine that can make a big difference in helping to protect the environment.  Food waste that is included within your general waste produces methane, a greenhouse gas that is 25 times more harmful than carbon dioxide, whereas by using our free, weekly, food waste recycling service it can be turned into green energy, such as biogas and fertiliser.
“I am delighted that so many households in Hillingdon are already signed up to this service, but we’d like to see even more residents recycling their food waste and helping us achieve our pledge to create a green, sustainable and carbon-neutral borough.
“I wish all the children good luck and can’t wait to see what they come up with!”

The winner will be selected by a judging panel comprising of the Mayor of Hillingdon, Cllr Shehryar Ahmad-Wallana, Cllr Eddie Lavery and waste and recycling service officers. The winning submission for each category will receive a sustainable baking kit and cookbook.

To enter the competition visit www.hillingdon.gov.uk/food-waste-competition

To find out more about recycling food waste and to sign up, visit www.hillingdon.gov.uk/food-waste

The High Court has announced on 25 May that it will allow further grounds for challenge as part of a Judicial Review by a coalition of councils into the proposed expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ).

At today’s hearing, the coalition comprising the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Hillingdon and Harrow, along with Surrey County Council was successful in its appeal, getting two additional grounds for challenge – out of three previously refused in April – added to the Judicial Review.
Those were:
– unfair and unlawful consultation in relation to expected compliance rates in outer London
– scrappage scheme
– irrationality due to uncertainty and inadequate consultation.

On 12 April the High Court granted permission for the coalition to challenge the legality of Transport for London (TfL) and the Mayor of London’s plans to expand the ULEZ to outer London from August 2023.

The permission then was granted on the following grounds:
• – failure to comply with relevant statutory requirements
• – whether the Mayor properly considered the previous “buffer zone” approach as a material consideration in relation to the scrappage scheme.

The Leader of Hillingdon Council, Cllr Ian Edwards, said: “Today’s result is another step forward for the coalition and outer-London. These grounds are key to understanding the harm the ULEZ expansion will have on our residents.
The Mayor estimated that only one in 10 of vehicles in outer London would be non-compliant but this is proving to be widely inaccurate. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders data shows that one in six cars registered in outer London did not meet Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) standards last year, and yesterday a new study by TfL found that half the vans registered in outer London are not compliant.
As each day passes the harm that the expansion of ULEZ will cause is becoming clearer and the sheer number of vehicles that don’t meet ULEZ emissions standards in Greater London suggests there will be a massive financial impact on motorists and businesses as well as enormous social harm.
We believe that we’ve assembled a valid and robust case to put before the court and have every confidence that the inappropriateness and harm of these expansion proposals will be given the scrutiny, exposure, and ultimately, the expulsion they deserve.”