Shrewsbury Town Council

The projects team at Shrewsbury Town Council began the search 2 years ago to find a solution to illuminate Victoria Avenue, in Quarry Park. It had never been lit primarily for two reasons; the dutcing price for a mains connection was significant and the reinstatement of the pathways, so it was not accessible.

Shrewsbury is prone to flooding, and increasingly so in the recent years. A large chunk of Victoria Avenue runs alongside the River Severn and ends about 200 yards from Shrewsbury Abbey, which on several occasions has been ringed by floodwaters. Therefore, a requirement from Shrewsbury Town Council was that the design of the lighting solution had to be designed and specified to accommodate the floodwaters. The project team conducted several risk assessments’ around the floods, and also found that the technical equipment would need to be at least 2 meters up the column in order to avoid any risk of ingress.

Another challenge they faced was that alongside the path, it was lined by well-established lime trees, which creates a very sticky honeydew. Therefore, they could not have any lights with big solar panels, because of being in risk of being covered with sticky sap, which would then lead to leaves attaching themselves and reducing the effectiveness of the panels.

Moreover, Quarry Park is Grade II listed. Therefore, the lighting solution had to be aesthetically pleasing, as well as fitting in with the lighting that was already throughout the park.

Shrewsbury Town Council started the process by trialling solar lights along the path to see if solar technology would work, and chose Zeta’s new solar powered Heritage lantern to illuminate the paths in Quarry Park. There is a total of 21 Solis Heritage lanterns along the path, providing sensitive and constant illumination.

Designed, developed and manufactured in Zeta’s Bicester-based production facility, the SmartScape Solis Heritage lantern uses vertical solar panel technology to ensure sunlight is captured from all angles. The versatile solar solution provides significant energy and cost savings, while keeping the aesthetics of traditional lanterns.

Zeta’s innovative solution met all of the Council’s requirements – illumination, solar, discreet and style of lamp.

As Quarry Park is a Grade II listed location, and already has working street lights within the park, making the style of lamp a key factor in the decision process for the Council. With the Solis Heritage, Shrewsbury Town Council were able to fulfil the requirements whilst not compromising on the quality of light.

Zeta’s SmartScape Solis Heritage lantern ensures a 365 days-a-year illumination, from dusk to dawn with Zeta’s patented controls technology enabling this. The lantern can also have no direct sunlight for up to seven days, guaranteed as there is a seven-day autonomy built into the system.

LEDs provide superior illumination and improved colour rendering than traditional street lighting technologies. With observations completed after the installation, Stuart Farmer noticed a lot more people using the path and switching off their torches when coming up to the path. The Council hoped for more people to use Quarry Park with Covid restrictions encouraging residents to use local outdoor areas.

Feedback form residents on Shrewsbury Facebook groups, were up to 1,000 likes on various comments about the style of lamp, and the way the columns fit in the park.

Great company, great products and great people to deal with. Put a challenge in front of them and the solution will follow.
Stuart Farmer, Projects Manager, Shrewsbury Town Council