Shrewsbury residents fed up of being kept in the dark with no street light for a year
Residents have been kept in the dark for a year waiting for a street light in their road to be fixed/
People living in Bishops Street and Clifford Street in the Cherry Orchard area of Shrewsbury say they can't understand why it has taken Shropshire Council so long to do something about it.
A response from the authority sheds little light on the issue, apart from saying they are in the process of repairing and replacing thousands of the vital lamps.
Claire Norris, who lives in the Cherry Orchard area, said: "In February 2022, a Veolia truck knocked down a street light on the junction of Bishops Street and Clifford Street in the Cherry Orchard area of Shrewsbury.
"Since then, numerous complaints have been made to the council by local residents but we are still waiting for it to get fixed. It’s been reported on ‘Fix My Street’ which I think is supposed to be acted on within a week but that was months ago!"
Claire said the street is 'pitch black' when she goes out to walk her dog and it would be easy to trip and fall on a kerb.
"Local residents tell me it’s really difficult unloading their cars of shopping, children, dogs etcetera if they come home in the dark."
Councillor Richard Marshall, Shropshire Council's cabinet member for highways, said: “Shropshire Council and our contractors are aware that a number of streetlights require maintenance.
"Due to a high number of street lighting faults being reported and an unprecedented number of emergency call-outs, some repairs are taking longer than normal."
Councillor Marshall said he can reassure people that the council is doing all it can to keep as many lights on as possible.
“We fully understand that delays to lighting repairs are frustrating and we can reassure people that we are doing all we can to ensure as many lights as possible are working," he said.
“Meanwhile we’ll be converting a further 12,500 streetlights to LED lighting in the next 12 months. These new LED lanterns will help to speed up the repair process and result in fewer faulty or failed lights in future.
“As the old lights – such as those in Cherry Orchard - are not manufactured anymore, and any faults or damage will be addressed when the new LED lights are installed as part of the conversion programme.
“We have taken on significant extra resources to speed up this conversion process and, once the old lanterns have been replaced with the newer LED type, the council will achieve in some cases up to 75 per cent energy saving per installation.”
Claire wasn't impressed, saying: "We have been waiting long enough!
"This all just sounds like bureaucratic council-speak. There has been a serious safety issue caused by the lack of lighting at the corner of Bishops Street/Clifford Street for a year and they are telling us that we are in a long queue waiting for the work to be done."
She said the light in Cherry Orchard should be treated and fixed as an urgent issue.
"I could also point out that we have had a spate of criminal activity since before Christmas. Most of those incidents happened during the hours of darkness, in the evening, when the street lights were on.
"Having a blind spot, which is pitch black at that junction when local people are out and about, going about their business you just don’t know what situation you might find yourself in because of that lack of lighting."
