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Anger at County Council’s Plan For Night-time Switch-off Of Thousands Of Street Lights
Published on: 9 Nov, 2016
Updated on: 11 Nov, 2016
Plans by Conservative-run Surrey County Council (SCC) to switch off thousands of street lights at night in Guildford from December have been attacked by opposition parties and a petition has been set up by the chairman of the Guildford Labour Party, George Dokimakis.
Up to 45,000 street lights across Surrey have been earmarked to be switched off from midnight to 5am.
According to SCC’s Lib Dem councillors, the first phase of 33,000 lights to be switched off across Surrey between midnight and 5am was scheduled for October 1 and the second, of 12,000 lights, for December or January.
However, in response to a question at a county council meeting in July, from Cllr Stephen Cooksey, (Lib Dem, Dorking South and the Holmwoods) and spokesman for highways and environment, he said the council then stated that the process had been delayed. He said: “They could not give a date as to when residents will find out if they will be left in the dark by these proposals or not.”
“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.
George Dokimakis said: “There has been little consultation to switch off street lights at night. This endangers the safety of anyone who is out during this time. Anyone who was working late, coming back home on a late train; people who are out having a nice time; night shift workers; everyone who works 24/7 like the NHS staff in the A&E; retail staff accepting deliveries overnight, van drivers, emergency support workers.
“Switching the lights off at night increases the danger for anyone being outside during this time. In Guildford, there have been multiple sexual assaults in the last year alone. It is highly likely incidents like these will increase if the lights are turned off.
“In many villages across Surrey, there are little to no pavements for people to walk on which, at night, increases their threat of being hit by a car, not to mention the danger of falling down in our renowned potholes. It will also increase the threat of petty crime.
“The petition asks Surrey County Council to reconsider its ill-conceived plans, have a proper consultation, be transparent in its motives and approach and put the safety of its residents across Surrey first.”
The chairman of the Guildford Labour Party, George Dokimakis, has set up an online petition for peoiple to sign who are against the plans.
County Cllr Fiona White (Lib Dem, Guildford West) said: “I am surprised that I was not consulted on any changes to street lighting on the roads in my division.
“I would have thought that local knowledge would be essential to make sure the programme works well for everyone.
“A covering email sending me the list [of streets] stated that roads on a traffic route or where there are traffic calming measures such as speed humps or chicanes would not be included. When I looked at the list I find that Park Barn Drive was included despite the fact that it is on a major route through to the hospital and it has speed humps along most of its length.
“Although it is not in my division, Barnwood Road where there is a chicane, was also included.
“I have spoken to people in Ashenden Estate where roads there are due to have their lighting reduced. They have expressed concerns, especially as many residents are students and the population changes regularly.
“I have now contacted to the Street Lighting Team and, as a result of my emails to them, they have taken out Park Barn Drive, Ashenden Road and Beech Drive to reassess them. They have also changed the proposal for Barnwood Road so that the lights near the chicane will stay on.”
Mr Dokimakis, added: “Whilst there are benefits to doing so with regards to the environment and light pollution, this is not what is driving the council as they are interested purely in cost savings. They have performed a very poor consultation across Surrey where only a small number of people have been consulted for a change that will affect millions.
“We need to get the council to stop this massive change until a proper consultation has taken place and full transparency on arguments and decisions have been provided as well as evidence that alternative methods have been evaluated fully.
“I am asking everyone to sign the petition and let fellow residents in Surrey know to help us challenge this.”
To access the petition click here.
Guildford Borough Cllr James Walsh has dubbed the plans a “Christmas blackout”.
Guildford Borough Councillor James Walsh (Labour, Stoke) has has also criticised the street lights plan and has dubbed it a “Christmas blackout” and a decision that is “undemocratic and unsafe”.
He has also questioned the veracity of a consultation that was only carried out online and which received responses from what he said is “a tiny fraction of the county’s 1.1 million population”.
Cllr Walsh said: “The county council has not consulted residents properly and the plans will be a boon for crooks. With the recent furore over the so-called ‘Killer Clowns’ – one of which recently terrorised a child in my ward – increasing the number of places where antisocial behaviour can thrive in Guildford is not in the public interest.”
Cllr Walsh added that SCC consulted with just 842 people across the county through its website. He said: “That’s a very small sample to base such a major decision on and I suspect that not many of those who responded live in Guildford.
“This is yet another example of where the general public are being made to carry the burden of the government’s discredited austerity policies – funding for local government has been cut to the marrow since 2010 and we are now seeing the loss of even the most basic of public services.”
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Responses to Anger at County Council’s Plan For Night-time Switch-off Of Thousands Of Street Lights
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Bernard Parke
November 9, 2016 at 9:13 am
I cannot see the logic behind this decision to switch off street lighting during the busiest periods of both Christmas and the new year.
Can there really be a true saving to the council tax payer with such a policy?
A policy which could well lead to more traffic accidents which in turn would put more pressure on our health service?
Even more pressure will no doubt be put on our over-worked police force, not just on road traffic accidents but also on other forms of crime.
Surely this policy should be reconsidered by our elected representatives in the interests of the people who elected them.
C Barker
November 9, 2016 at 9:27 am
Looking through the list it looks like they’re picking on Merrow, yet Bellfields and Park Barn (except Clover Road) are going to be basking in street lighting.
I bet there’s an increase in burglaries when this happens.
As for the poor people living in the sticks surrounding Guildford, looks like you are going to have to purchase torches to find your way home if you venture out at night.
As if it’s not dangerous enough walking at night, some places in the blackout zone don’t even have footpaths.
Jim Allen
November 9, 2016 at 9:53 am
Realising I go against the grain on this one.
If you, like me, have had six street lights lighting up your home internally in winter after the lighting engineers failed miserably to install them with due consideration of light contamination (light spread) into ones home and garden, I must express my extreme disappointment that Clay Lane is not included in the listing – despite understanding that is would be.
The ability of SCC lighting engineers to understand light spread (wasted light) during the installation of the ‘new’ street lights is extremely concerning.
There are rectangle light spread for roads and square light spread for junctions – SCC installed ‘square spread’ on Clay Lane when ‘rectangle spread’ was required.
As for switching off street lights ‘not in use’ seems a sensible solution to light pollution and energy waste, but only if movement sensors are included which switch the lights on when people are moving around.
Lighting up side streets and even main roads at 3am in the morning has always seemed pointless to me when everyone is in bed.
So I will sign the petition because my request was ignored despite my response!
Mary Bedforth
November 9, 2016 at 1:39 pm
SCC would not have been able to carry out this switch off on the old system apart from manually altering individual timers.
They achieved the capability for central control when they contracted to spend *£73 million some years back on a PFI (private finance initiative) with Skanska/John Laing for replacement and maintenance of all the county’s street lighting.
Handy that!
Street lighting replacement programme:
“Surrey County Council and Skanska have now successfully completed the street lighting replacement programme.
“In March 2010 Surrey County Council started a 25-year contract that has transformed the county’s street lighting system with the biggest roll-out of new energy saving technology in the country. The contract has seen our contractor Skanska (Surrey Lighting Services) install white lights to replace the orange glow street lamps across the county. Liability for the street lights has been transferred from the authority to Skanska for the duration of the contract.”
https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/roads-and-transport/road-maintenance-and-cleaning/street-lights-traffic-signals-and-signs/street-lights/street-lighting-replacement-programme
* “The cost of the contract is met by Surrey County Council (£3.96 million in 2009-10) and £73.9 million of central government funding through PFI credits paid across the 25 years of the contract.”
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/street_lighting_information_90
Wendy Johnson
November 9, 2016 at 7:48 pm
I am appalled that, together with removal of phone boxes,Surrey County Council considers removing the lighting after midnight.
Surely the saving cannot match that of people’s lives?
Dave Middleton
November 10, 2016 at 7:52 pm
The removal of the, mainly redundant, telephone kiosks is a commercial decision by BT. It has now’t to do with Surrey County Council.
Eddie Ward
November 9, 2016 at 10:16 pm
As the lighting authority in Guildford, does not Surrey County Council have a duty of care to the residents to keep them safe in the dark?
If they have to go down this unlit road, could they not shut down every other light? At least then, there would be a chance for walkers.
Mrs S Tokunaga
November 9, 2016 at 11:35 pm
I live on an estate where approximately 80% of the houses are occupied by students.
If they have been partying or clubbing they come home in the early hours of the morning. Some of them come back from university after midnight.
Our street lights have already been dimmed which has caused concern. These young people are vulnerable, especially when they split up and make their way to different houses on the estate.
I believe SCC has a duty of care to safeguard their passage home through providing adequate lighting, which is essential to security.
Anna-Marie Davis
November 10, 2016 at 1:59 pm
So we can have Christmas lights in the High Street on during daylight hours but not be lit to walk home safely any more?
Priorities of both GBC and SCC are incomprehensible to me.
Quick, let’s buy a pretty new bridge for by the cinema, we have to compete with Bracknell!
Lisa Wright
November 10, 2016 at 5:17 pm
I’m looking forward to eventually being able to see the stars.
Martin Elliott
November 10, 2016 at 7:40 pm
I just wonder, has nobody noticed this is yet another initiative in common with many Conservative controlled councils?
Small, but very significant, changes to community recycling (including charging), using special government loans to purchase commercial buildings.
Doesn’t seem to matter if any of their initiatives are locally suitable.
Is everybody discovering the same finance solutions or is there perhaps some national direction driving this from Whitehall or a political think tank?
Dave Middleton
November 10, 2016 at 7:46 pm
I really cannot see what all the fuss is about.
I grew up on a council estate in Epsom in the 1960s and 70s and the street lamps were switched off between about midnight and 5am.
If you were out and about between those times (and I frequently was), you carried a good torch which: a) served to light your way, b) made you visible to motor vehicles and c) was handy for lumping any ne’er do well that tried it on with you.
When I was a little older and able to drink in pubs, I never got so drunk I wasn’t able to look after myself and make my own way home.
People need to take responsibility for themselves and not expect local government to mollycoddle them.
Brian Holt
November 10, 2016 at 8:05 pm
In reply to Jim Allen’s comments:
Just because he is in bed does he not realise many other people are still working?
How are ambulance crews and other emergency services answering a emergency call suppose to find house number or name of a house in the dark.
The Stoughton area, specially Northway, has noisy students coming home 2am in the morning, what damaged will get done to cars etc, in the dark?
Why was street lighting installed? To make our neighbourhoods and roads safe for pedestrian and drivers, and with all these women being attack locally lighting all night is essential.
Wayne Smith
November 10, 2016 at 10:55 pm
The Conservatives are in power both at Surrey County Council (SCC) and Guildford Borough Council (GBC). They ought to take note of the recent Brexit referendum and the US Presidential election results and start listening.
This is another hare-brained scheme imposed on the council tax payers with no meaningful consultation. Apart from being a bonanza for burglars, any pedestrian will already be aware how poor the street lighting can be outside the town centre, even when fully lit, never mind stumbling along our appalling pavements in total darkness. Good luck to the motorists trying to follow the road in thick fog too.
Looking at the published list of roads, I couldn’t help but notice that no road names with letters D/E are listed. That throws up some ridiculous anomalies. Surely not a mistake by SCC?
County Cllr Fiona White (Lib Dem Guildford West) mentions that roads with traffic calming measures in place are not supposed to be in darkness, yet Boxgrove Lane is included and SCC spent a considerable amount of money within the last year creating three ineffectual speed humps along that section of road.
SCC should go back to the drawing board, launch a proper consultation and if it’s then decided to still go ahead, at least make the change in the summer months when the night is short so that people can get used to it.
Jules Cranwell
November 11, 2016 at 1:36 am
I live in West Horsley where, apart from the major thoroughfares, we have never had streetlights, and I rather prefer it. I’ve not been killed recently, so I guess it can work, as long as you have the common sense to carry a torch for trips back from the pub, or other local activities.
It’s also rather peaceful, so I highly recommend it.
John Perkins
November 11, 2016 at 10:23 am
Wendy Johnson is right to meld BT and SCC as they both enjoy monopolies; the former is allowed by law while the latter is enforced by it. Monopoly of supply is a form of absolute power, which, as we all know, corrupts absolutely. Feedback is necessary in every system.
And I don’t see the relevance of any person’s drinking habits.
A Tatlow
November 11, 2016 at 11:58 am
I live in the sticks. Please don’t worry about me being “poor” as I already have a torch, several in fact – always have had, I recommend them. I am also blessed with a fair degree of natural night vision.
Street lights confuse birds and bats and hide stars. Burglars see less well in the dark.
A couple of years ago one of my neighbours expressed alarm at the proposal to merely lower the lights on our estate between 11pm and 5am. She feared incidents of crime: “There’s so much crime going on; it’s even happening in broad daylight!”…precisely.
Valerie Thompson
November 11, 2016 at 3:04 pm
I also live in West Horsley and love the darkness. We can see the Milky Way from our back garden. Please preserve us from the suburban and urban dwellers, who buy in the village and complain they can’t manage without streetlights. We’ve managed happily for 46 years!
I think it is an excellent idea to turn off as many streetlights as possible to enhance “dark skies” and to save money.
Anna-Marie Davis
November 11, 2016 at 3:15 pm
Streetlights are a large component of women feeling safe when walking home after dark. Police advise us to choose well lit areas.
Guildford has had its fair share of sexual assaults recently; the police advice and the council’s actions conflict here.
Claire Williams
November 12, 2016 at 12:22 am
I think SCC have done well. Other councils and Highways England, started part night lighting about eight years ago, so SCC is behind the times!
Personally I think there is a lack of evidence that part night lighting increases crime and, in fact, there is evidence from other county areas that the opposite happens and crime reduces. Add to that a reduction in light pollution, carbon emissions and energy costs.
It has my support.
Paul Bishop
November 12, 2016 at 9:38 pm
SCC has done well lasting so long, most councils were doing this years ago. Despite all the outrage the facts prove it has zero effect on safety.
Bernard Parke
November 13, 2016 at 3:28 pm
Guildford is a university town with 14,000 students at the university alone, not to mention the ACM and the University of Law.
What protection can these young people expect when returning home with so many reported assaults, even without the planned early hours switch-off?
David Roberts
November 14, 2016 at 11:00 am
I am happy if my council tax is subsidising Mr Dokimakis’s street, but I love the fact that there are no street lights in mine.
Lighting up the wee small hours is a waste of energy and light pollution is a threat to wildlife. The new Cobham service centre on the M25 is a shocking example of such devastation in the green belt.
Wayne Smith
December 7, 2016 at 8:27 pm
Do Surrey County Council take us for fools?
It’s reported on the Get Surrey web site that SCC claim it’s just coincidence that no street names beginning with the letters D and E are involved in the first phase of the switch off! It would be interesting to see their methodology.
One would have expected that having installed a multi-million pound system that can dim the street lights, they would have been quick to hit the off button in phase one areas (listed as happening in December). The lights are still on in my area.