The trial was due to go ahead last year, but the Town Council said in December that the habourmaster had warned the lights “could cause confusion to shipping” because some of the lights were the same colour as warning navigation buoys.
However, it emerged at a Town Council meeting on Monday (January 7th) that the harbourmaster has not objected to the trial going ahead.
Harbourmaster John Stone told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “We advised Sedgemoor District Council that in order to comply with their duties as a statutory harbour authority, they would, as part of the planning consent process, need to assess if the proposed lighting scheme would have any adverse impact on the navigation aids provided at Burnham.”
“As harbourmasters serving the port we have never objected outright, and we would gladly take part in any consultation on the scheme to assess any potential impact on the navigation aids.”
Town Council Clerk Eileen Shaw told Monday’s Town Council meeting that she is discussing the matter further and will report back at the next meeting.
Burnham-On-Sea.com reported here that resident Nick Whetstone had proposed that the town’s current aging decorative illuminations be replaced by the multi-coloured low-cost LED lights.
The bulbs inside the lamps would be replaced with coloured LED units, as pictured above, and it is claimed these could cut the council’s power bill by up to 85%.
Pictured: Top, the proposed new lights and, above, the current lights
