I agree. Energy cost, Maintenance, light pollution and disturbance to wildlife.

I agree about not building more houses where the occupants then have to get into cars to go anywhere, school, shops, pub, doctor etc. I also agree about light pollution, my garden is dimly lit by a street light about 75 M away that is lower than the garden. 

I am not so sure about using torches, what is the pollution rating of batteries disposable or rechargeable?

 

I am not so sure about using torches, what is the pollution rating of batteries disposable or rechargeable?

A good point.

A lot of elderly retired folk live in villages. Do they not deserve good lighting to see their way about and also for added security?

Z.

Electricity from disposable torch batteries costs about 1000 times as much as mains electricity.

Mains=about 15 pence a kilowatt hour.

Batteries = about £150 a kilowatt hour.

That however does not tell the whole story. Street lights for a large village might use about 1 kw, or an average of about 4,000 kwh a year, costing about £600 a year. Maintenance could double that.

If a hundred residents each use an LED torch for an average of 100 hours a year, then each would spend about £1 a year on batteries, a considerable saving. And the cost of batteries falls only on those who use them whereas the cost of public lighting falls on all, even those who make no use of it.

If those residents who most used batteries changed to rechargeable ones then the savings would be greater. 

Rural residential areas should have a degree of properly designed lighting in shared areas such as bus stops and near shops, but if you're going out at night, a tiny pocket torch isn't difficult to carry nowadays.

If you are in a UK rural area and want to go out at night on roads with no pavement, you don't need a small torch, you need a big bright one to aim at the inconsiderate motorists to get them to see you, leave space for you, and not blind you.