VolkerHighways awarded new £70million contract by West Berkshire Council

Contract agreed following completion of LED streetlight upgrade

WEST Berkshire Council has agreed a new contract worth £70million with VolkerHighways, it has been announced.

The highways service provider, which operates across the UK, has been awarded the seven-year contract following the completion of the council’s LED streetlight upgrade project, which saw 10,000 of the district’s streetlamps replaced with the new cost-saving bulbs.

The contract will begin on October 1 and will see VolkerHighways provide highways, bridges and lighting maintenance services throughout the district.

The work will cover some 1,278km of urban and rural highway network.

Executive member for highways and transport, Garth Simpson, said: “VolkerHighways have worked with us successfully since 2006 to look after our road network, footpaths and streetlights.

“It’s important we look after this infrastructure and the contract with VolkerHighways allows us to maintain our roads efficiently and with the best value for our residents.”

The managing director of VolkerHighways, Alistair Thompson, said: “We are absolutely delighted by this opportunity to further develop our relationship with West Berkshire Council.

“We’re particularly pleased to be taking on a project which so directly supports the local communities within the district.”

Working with the council’s highways and transport department, the VolkerHighways team will inspect and maintain the roads, street lights and pavements.

They will also undertake improvement schemes, salt the roads and provide a full emergency response service.

It is understood that, during the tendering process, VolkerHighways offered the council a list of additional services it could provide, which the council says it is currently working through to decide which will provide best value for residents.

Since July 2015, the team has been working on a £7.2m project to upgrade more than 10,000 of the district’s street lights with energy efficient LED lamps.

However, the project came under criticism from some campaigners who argued that the light emitted by the new lamps would ruin the aesthetics of the area while also being potentially harmful to health.

This claim was seemingly backed up by a report from Public Health England, which stated that some LEDs can disrupt sleep patterns by suppressing the body’s production of melatonin.

However, West Berkshire Council defended the move, with spokesman Martin Dunscombe commenting: “The new lights use the latest LED technology and meet national guidelines, so there is absolutely no cause for concern.”