The Climate Scrutiny Committee of Waltham Forest Council was scheduled to meet on 24 June 2025 to discuss a range of topics, including borough street lighting and a review of the committee's forward plan. The meeting was also scheduled to include a review of the action tracker from the previous meeting, the recommendations tracker, and any accompanying responses.

Street Lighting Update

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on borough street lighting. A report prepared by Declan Lynch, Head of Highway Network Management, noted that street lighting accounts for 55% of the total carbon emissions across the council estate, and that in the past 10 years, carbon emissions from the street lighting network have been reduced by over 70%.

The report also detailed the council's response to the global energy crisis in 2022 and 2023, when the cost of electricity more than doubled. The council set aside a £4 million investment into the street lighting network and is mid-way through the programme, already achieving an 18% reduction in energy consumption. Once completed, a further reduction of 300 tonnes of carbon emitted per year is expected.

The report provided an analysis of the lighting database in 2023, which identified 16,692 luminaires on the network, of which 5,699 (34%) had already been converted to LED. The average wattage could be reduced from 121W to 68W, resulting in a 43.8% energy reduction per installation.

Phase 1 of the Street Lighting Investment Programme required the replacement of the remaining 155 concrete columns on the network. Phase 2 involves structurally testing 2,700 high-energy-use lamp columns and replacing any as necessary, and replacing lanterns with higher energy consumption with energy-efficient LED equivalents. This phase is projected to deliver an annual energy cost reduction of £300,000, representing a 16% decrease from current energy costs.

The report also noted that carbon emissions as a result of street lighting have significantly reduced in recent years, from 3,403 tCO2e to 1,584 tCO2e, and that the current Street Lighting Investment Programme is expected to deliver a further 300 tCO2e. However, the majority of the carbon saving has been a result of the decarbonisation of the electricity grid.

The Lighting Team also work closely with the Regeneration Team to help facilitate the Levelling Up Fund work, including installing decorative lighting to help enhance the public realm, and organise the annual Christmas Tree installation and associated light installation.

Scrutiny Report

The committee was scheduled to review the Scrutiny Report, which included the forward plan for the ongoing municipal year and invited recommendations. The report, authored by Emily Wood, Scrutiny Officer, also included the action tracker from the previous meeting, the recommendations tracker, and any accompanying responses.

The Draft Forward Plan 25-26 included items such as missed bin collections, planning policies and SPDs¹, how the council responds to biodiversity agendas, climate action by registered providers, consultation on EV charging, the rollout of food waste collections, and air quality initiatives.

The Climate Scrutiny Recommendation Tracker included a recommendation from the meeting on 27 March 2025 that the council focus on small businesses in the borough to encourage and assist them in contributing towards climate targets. The Action Tracker included actions from the same meeting, such as considering adding consultation on EV charging to the forward plan for next year, providing data on the differences in cost for contracts when incorporating climate considerations, providing a list of voluntary organisations the council works with around climate targets/goals, and confirming the exact figures for the sources of PM2.5² emissions in London.

The Response_Air Quality document provided the following breakdown of the sources of PM2.5 for Greater London and Waltham Forest, according to the London Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (LAEI) 2019:

Greater London (2019)

• Road transport: 31%
• Domestic biomass / wood burning: 17%
• Commercial cooking: 15%
• Construction: 8%
• Domestic Heat & Power: 7%
• Industrial Processes: 7%
• Commercial / Industrial Heat & Power: 6%
• Other: 9%

Waltham Forest (2019)

• Road transport: 37%
• Domestic biomass / wood burning: 29%
• Domestic Heat & Power: 11%
• Commercial cooking: 8%
• Commercial / Industrial Heat & Power: 4%
• Construction: 2%
• Other: 9%