No review of street light policy until summer 2013 (From St Albans & Harpenden Review)

No review of street light policy until summer 2013 says Hertfordshire County Council

8:50am Friday 3rd February 2012 in News By Chris Hewett

Darkened roads in Hertfordshire will not see light for at least 18 months

Darkened roads in Hertfordshire will not see light for at least 18 months after Hertfordshire County Council revealed it would not review its street lamp switch-off until summer 2013.

The authority announced this week it would not look at reversing its money-saving policy until at least one year after the scheme has been introduced to all corners of the county.

Opposition councillors have branded the decision “ridiculous” and accused the authority of not listening to hundreds of people who have registered their complaints with local representatives. The Conservative county council has gradually introduced the scheme to different areas of Hertfordshire since mid-2011 with the switch-off coming into force in Watford in November.

Supporters argue the move will save the authority £1million a year and reduce its carbon footprint.

But Liberal Democrat Councillor Stephen Giles-Medhurst, who sits on the authority’s highways and transport panel, is unhappy with the decision.

He said: “I’m clearly very disappointed. We expressed concerns about the inflexibility of the scheme when it was first introduced and this has been echoed by the vast majority of residents that have complained.

“Whilst there is some merit in turning off some lights to reduce the carbon footprint, we need to take on board local conditions and comments.”

Councillor Giles Medhurst also accused highways bosses of being politically motivated in delaying the review until after the next county council elections.

Fellow panel member Labour councillor Nigel Bell said: “I’m not happy. I can’t see why they are waiting so long - it seems ridiculous.

“I have had lots of people getting in touch with me who are concerned about crime but mostly the safety of their streets. The council needs to take into account the number of complaints and bring this review forward.”

Executive member for highways and transport Councillor Stuart Pile, believes the 18-month wait is necessary.

He said: “We won’t have finished rolling out the scheme to all areas until June or July at the earliest and we feel it needs to have been running for at least a year before we can review it.

“If we reviewed it after six months like some suggest, places like Dacorum won’t have experienced the switch off in winter months when it has the biggest impact.”

“We need to be efficient here and gather all the evidence we can from all areas, not just Watford or other places where it was introduced first.”