Brighton and Hove could soon be seen in a new light as proposals for the £26 million overhaul of street lighting in the city are revealed.

Proposals to be discussed by councillors tomorrow could see more than 15,000 street lights and 8,000 of their supporting columns replaced or updated.

The council is making the move in a bid to reduce energy usage and cut costs from the current annual £1 million budget to light the city’s roads and pavements.

Opposition councillors said they would seek assurances that the use of more energy-efficient lights will not lead to darker streets or unsafer neighbourhoods.

Brighton and Hove City Council officials said the authority did not have the available funding to replace or update an estimated 15,500 lights with either LEDs or other efficient light sources.

Instead, work has started to look into the possibility of acquiring a low-interest loan from the Green Investment Bank or other similar investors to pay for the work.

i360 The council said the terms of the loan would be similar to the terms from the public Works Loan Board which funded the i360.

Officers estimated the cost of the purchasing and installing LEDs would be recouped within eight years through energy savings.

The planned overhaul would build on work already carried out in the city, which has seen more than 3,500 outdated sodium lanterns replaced with more efficient lighting since 2010, reducing energy usage and carbon output by more than a third.

The council described the proposals as an Invest to Save project, with the council eventually reaping savings in terms of reduced energy use by investing now.

The council’s street lighting costs have more than doubled in the past decade and have increased by about a third in the past four years.

About 8,000 columns are in need of replacement across the city, with 5,000 of the council’s cast-iron columns expected to be among those making way, although 140 of these are protected by English Heritage listing.

Conservationists have been told the council would aim to retain as many old cast iron street lights as possible.

Cable network The majority of 40 miles of private underground electrical cable network owned and maintained by the council is also in need of renewal.

The removal of the more ornate metal lamp posts has irked some residents, with The Argus reporting in October that residents in Compton Road were unhappy with their more modern replacements.

At tomorrow’s meeting, councillors will be asked to approve a budget of £100,000 for consultants to build up a business plan for the project – a move criticised by Conservative councillors who think the plans could just as easily and more affordably be drawn up in-house by council officers.

Labour councillors have also indicated to The Argus that they have concerns surrounding the financial implications of the scheme, which they will raise at tomorrow’s meeting.

Council officers said the new lights would bring improved lighting quality to streets as well as energy savings, while not acting to replace the lights now could increase the risks of accidents It is also hoped that the lights would reduce light pollution and support the South Downs National Park Authority bid to become one of the country’s first dark-sky reserves.

Conservative group leader Geoffrey Theobald said: “We agree that the council should be looking to replace old, inefficient and unreliable street lights.

“As many councils up and down the country are finding, this not only saves money but also considerably reduces carbon emissions.

“Whenever this is discussed, some residents quite rightly express concerns about night-time safety and we would be seeking reassurance over this when we get to the procurement stage.

“I also have concerns about the proposal to spend £100,000 on consultants to draw up the business case.

“Surely our own council officers can learn from how other councils have done this?”