Powys County Council’s Board is wavering on its decision to switch off street lights across the county, after several members expressed concerns about the programme and the way it had been carried out.
There may be moves within the county council to take a proposal to the next full council meeting on October 23, Councillor Ken Harris said, which may see the Board’s decision to switch off two out of every three street lights in non-core areas overturned.
But until then, the Board agreed that the switch-off should continue and a full review should take place before the end of the year.
The council’s chief executive Mark Kerr told members they were in a ‘pretty awkward’ position because they had taken the decision to switch off the lights in July.
Andd he said he was not sure why they were so surprised at the reaction of the public because the effects of the switch-off were always going to be bad.
“A decision has been made under the force of circumstances that were changing for the worst quite rapidly. If you now reverse that decision or take action which looks like a reversal then that looks like panic in the face of public opposition. But it would be wrong not to take on board the public’s concerns,” he added.
“You have to look for a solution that allows you to stand by your decision but allows you to respond in a responsible, measured and orderly fashion to the concerns of your constituents.”
Councillors declined an offer by Head of Regeneration and Environment Steve Holdaway to place an order for about 2,000 timers so that about 4,000 lights currently on all night in non-core areas could be converted to part-night lighting between 12 midnight and 5.30am.
It would have cost about £70,000 but it would have meant that about 5,500 lights could have been re-lit, taking the total of switched-off lights down to 60 per cent instead of 67 per cent.
Instead members agreed to wait until the review in December to make a decision.
Members were told work had started on switching the lights off on September 8. By October 3 some 2,970 lights or 40% of the target had been reached but work is currently between two and four days behind schedule.
Portfolio holder Councillor Gwilym Evans said the programme was expected to be completed early in November, and he warned that, despite the cuts, the department was still expecting an overspend of between £2,000 and £8,000.
Customer service staff have dealt with around 600 calls already and people are now being asked to write in with complaints – a move which is proving unpopular with many callers.
Councillor Evans said a standard letter of response was being sent out to those who write or email.
To date 180 written or email complaints had been received, together with three petitions containing around 380 signatures.
He said some indicated potential claims or action against the authority or officers or members in the event of an incident.
Councillors were told that the Community Safety Partnership, which includes the police, have said that while they understand that efficiency savings have to be made, “primary consideration in any decision made should be citizen-focussed and based on the needs of our customers”.
In a statement they added: “It is not only the county council who have received complaints, or been asked to address community concerns around the issue and feeling vulnerable, and the CSP has had to call an urgent meeting to discuss a collective approach to monitoring all of the information and evidence of concerns and feelings of vulnerability to help future review processes.
“However, it still remains that the decision to change the initial plans for part-night lighting to two in three switched-off appears to be based on time pressures linked to finance and not the impact on the community.
“We would ask that from this point forward, consideration be given to review the strict time parameters to allow better communication with community leaders, police and other partners.”
But Mr Holdaway warned Board members that to comply with the Community Safety Partnership’s view and delay implementation would create an extra burden on the budget, resulting in an overspend of £75,000.
Councillor Gwyn Gwillim asked if officers had considered part-night lighting, turning the lights off between midnight and 5.30am.
Mr Holdaway said they had but it would not deliver the savings they needed to make.
Councillor Gwilym Vaughan said: “I am going to support the Board’s earlier decision because I supported it in the past and I have always supported efficiency savings and difficult decisions we have made as a council, but I support it reluctantly because I did not like the way it was done.
“When community councils were first consulted they were told a switch-off would be between midnight and 5am and there was widespread support for that.
“Things happened very quickly after that and we arrived at a 67 per cent switch-off. I will support this today as long as there is a review.
“Another thing I am not happy with is members being given 48 hours to respond to anything they disagree with. I have 12 villages. How can I have a look at all these villages in 48 hours and get a community councillor out with me? It is absolutely ridiculous. This was a rushed job and it has not been done properly.”
Councillor Ken Harris said he had asked for sheltered housing to be included in the lit-core areas and he had asked for councillors to be given maps showing where lights in their areas would be turned off so they could deal with any anomalies.
But he said the maps had not been sent out until after the lights had been turned off.
He had also been in touch with officers about some lights which needed to be turned back on in Knighton and others that could be turned off and he was still waiting two weeks on.
“We know what the public are thinking – the way it has been carried out is totally wrong,” he said. “It is clear you can’t put 67 per cent of lights off and not cause the effects we are seeing.
“Coming into Llandrindod Wells is like coming into a Harry Potter film with the floodlights at the leisure centre. The leisure centres always run at a loss, they will be running at more of a loss now with the lights being left on.
“If we asked the towns to put £1 on their council tax, it’s not a lot of money, and I think people would prefer it to have their lights on. Then there are the free parking places at County Hall; we expect the public to pay but we don’t pay ourselves.”
Councillor Harris proposed that the council remove the necessity for 67 per cent of lights to be switched off, carry out an impact assessment and a risk assessment on highways and areas where there are registered vulnerable people, reinstate lights which are causing problems as identified by local councillors, recall the council’s energy saving group, move to part-night lighting on some lights outside core areas, consider savings possibilities at council-owned properties such as leisure centres, and look at where the council could charge and instigate a review of the action taken so far.
But the proposal was defeated.
• Are you in the dark over your streetlights being switched off? Please don’t keep it to yourself – email your views to the Journal’s deputy editor Mary Queally at mqueally@shropshirestar.co.uk or write to: Mid Wales Journal, Middleton Street, Llandrindod Wells, LD1 5ET.
