Mixed reaction to new lights forming gateway to foreshore in Skegness

The first iconic street lights which are part of a £400,000 improvement project for Tower Esplanade were tested lby East Lindsey District Council last week.

Tower Esplanade, which runs from the Clock Tower to the RNLI lifeboat station, is being transformed with state of the art LED colour changing lighting, incorportating image projection which will have the ability to create a variety of themed projection light shows whilst also improving visibility to the area.

Alongside the new lighting scheme, existing street furniture along Tower Esplanade will be replaced with contemporary granite and hardwood seating, new stainless steel litter bins, bollards and wayfinding signage.

The works will be finished off with a new planting scheme and surface treatment of footpaths, creating a cleaner, vibrant setting and recognising the important role Tower Esplanade plays as the gateway to the Foreshore.

More thank 200 people liked the post when ELDC published images of the lights switched on, but comments were mixed.

Among those liking them was Julie Sadler who said: "Wow! The lighting looks fabulous. Well done ELDC."

Wayne Burles said: "Looks great. Well done to those who got it done. Long needed facelift to the front. Looks rejuvenated."

And Gary Danger Starr said: "Great work ELDC - love it

Stephen Scarborough commented: "Thing is it’s looks fantastic but which bright spark thought it’s a good idea to put the litter bins next to the seating, People will be sat on them with a load of flies and wasps buzzing round the bins."

And Paul Trowell said: "Looks good and with the new colonnade at Sutton on the way ,it is looking good for this part of the East Coast ".

Others thought the money should have been spent elsewhere. Paul Watts said; "All the problems In the area that need fixing and say 'we haven't got the money' yet you can get hundreds of thousands of pounds for this. Amazing."

Jo Hardaker wrote to the Standard and said: " I'm pretty sure the councils around here wrote the book on wasting our money.

"Tower Esplanade, stripped of its trees, now looks like it has a gigantic rib cage adorning its pavements.

"Perfectly good street lights have been replaced with metallic monstrosities that would look more at home on the set of the next Jurassic World film than they do on Skegness seafront.

"The black tarmac is unsightly and out of keeping with a seafront esplanade, and the granite benches are already looking grubby.

"Still, at least the new ugly metal lamps will light up the pavements with colourful patterns – in the evenings, when no one is up there to see them anyway.

"There's no wonder this town is dying on its feet."

East Lindsey District Council said there is still lots more work to do over the next couple of weeks before the lights are formally turned on.