Campus at dusk

Every year when the clocks change, the University's Estates Team invite members of the Health and Safety group and the Students' Union to a walking tour around campus after dark to review the provision of external lights.

Jayne Townsend, Contract Manager in Estates, explained: “We don’t want to cause unnecessary light pollution – we’re nestled in the South Downs, so we don’t have the same light levels as a city centre. But at the same time, we want to make sure that Sussex students and staff can move around campus safely at any time of day.”

This year's walk started just outside Falmer House. The group followed a similar route to the one the SEF security team takes every week to check if any lights are broken and need fixing.

There are around 300 lamp posts on campus (each with their own ID number), and over a hundred low-level lights and wall lamps, so it’s not exactly a leisure short walk.

The group took note of every non-working lamp and identified areas that would benefit from additional lighting. This list will be sent to SEF engineers so they can fix the lights as soon as possible.

The Sustainability team is also organising another campus lighting tour to help ensure that we have safe, appropriate levels of lighting for both staff, students and local wildlife. They will also be investigating the scope to improve the energy efficiency of the campus lighting. For example, as part of our plans to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2035, broken lights are being replaced with LEDs. 

If you spot any lights on campus that aren’t working, please email the Services Centre at sef.servicecentre@mitie.com.

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