Surrey residents left in the dark over Tory streetlight cuts
Liberal Democrat Councillors have criticised Tory-run Surrey County Council after discovering that residents have still not been informed about plans to turn off thousands off street lights at night.
In response to a question at the July County Council meeting from Councillor Stephen Cooksey, Liberal Democrat Spokesman for Highways & Environment, the Council stated that it was planning to permanently turn off 45,000 street lamps from midnight until 5.00am. The first phase of 33,000 lights was scheduled for 1st October 2016 and the second, of 12,000 lights, for December or January. But Surrey County Council have admitted that the process has been delayed and that they cannot give a date as to when residents will find out if they will be left in the dark by these proposals or not.
Councillor Cooksey said:
"It's bad enough that the Surrey Tories want to turn off the lights all night but we don't even know which lights yet. This is a sad day for residents when the County Council is unable or unwilling to maintain street lighting for taxpayers. Street lights provide an important element of safety and security for residents and plunging large areas into darkness for a large part of the night will not be acceptable to very many people. My experience is that most people are keen to see additional lighting in poorly lit areas. This has been even more the case in the light of continued reductions in police resources.
"Residents were first promised that they would find out in September which roads are to be deprived of all-night lighting and the switch off for most areas was scheduled for 1st October. But the Council cannot give a date as to when the lights will be switched off or when residents will be informed. I will strongly oppose this move and hope that residents will make their views known to the Council about what is yet another significant reduction in service".
ENDS