More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
All our streetlights are to be turned back on after a long-fought campaign to reverse a decision to turn some of them off.
Kent County Council (KCC) has confirmed there will now be all-night lighting across the county following a decision to switch to new energy-efficient LED lights.
Councillors have backed the U-turn which follows the announcement KCC is to spend £40 million converting 118,000 streetlights to provide the option of all-night lighting.
Work is expected to be completed within three years and will eventually save Kent taxpayers up to £5.2m a year.
However, the county authority says it will listen to calls for lighting to be dimmed or switched off where district councils and parish councils ask for it; where these requests are made, KCC will have the final say.
The draft programme for the residential areas and approximate timeline is:
In a consultation carried out last year, there were more than 3,700 responses. Of these, 63% said they preferred all-night lighting, while 37% said they preferred part-night lighting at the current level.
At the moment, the bill for the county’s streetlights and lit signs is nearly £9.5m a year in maintenance, electricity costs and carbon tax.
Cllr Matthew Balfour, KCC cabinet member for the environment, said: “By embracing LED lighting in one of the largest projects of its kind in the United Kingdom, we can make significant savings to our electricity bill and cut our carbon footprint.”
The decision ends a period of controversy the council faced when there was widespread opposition to proposals for streetlights to be switched off.
However, not everyone is happy with the latest decision.
Some people in Canterbury have described it as glaring ‘zombie’ street lighting, linked by scientists to broken sleep patterns, and believe it could ruin the historic city centre.
The brilliant light cast by the bulbs has been likened to a scene from John Wyndham’s classic sci-fi horror, The Day Of The Triffids, and opponents are now questioning whether it will be appropriate for conservation areas and neighbourhoods around the cathedral.
A key campaigner to get our streetlights back on was Tina Brooker, but while cautiously happy with the initial outcome, she warned: “I’ll be back.”
Giving a measured welcome to Kent County Council’s decision to restore night-time lighting across the county, Miss Brooker, of the Warren, Gravesend, said: “I’m satisfied we’ll get lights on through the night – including 3,500 of them in Gravesend – but I’m not sure at what levels.
“We still don’t know how dim they will be. I shall be watching this aspect very closely.”
Miss Brooker, 53, said it had been a long and hard two-year battle to get KCC to change its mind.
“I am absolutely delighted we have got this far and that commonsense is prevailing for the safety of Gravesham residents – 2,200 of whom signed our petition.
“The campaign was quite exhausting, 24/7, spending endless hours on it including lots of research.
“My poor family had to put up with a lot. I’ve never done that sort of thing before but it’s now got me involved in politics.
“I’m considering standing as a councillor for a seat in County Hall in next year’s election, possibly as an Independent or for Ukip.
“I certainly had down times but residents across Kent kept supporting one another, and when I was low other groups would phone me, one lady saying: ‘You’ve got to outlast your opponent, keep chipping away at their armour.’
“Your Messenger editions have been pivotal in securing an outcome.
“The power of the Press adds more weight and your reporter in particular, Julia Roberts, was key in drawing the public’s attention.
“She was an absolute star staying with the story since the beginning.”
Kent County Council (KCC) switched off up to 70,000 of the county’s lights between midnight and 6.30am in many rural and residential roads to save money and cut carbon emissions.
The figure included 3,500 of Gravesham’s 8,000 street lights and 3,700 of Dartford borough’s 8,400 lights.
The Gravesend Messenger and Dartford Messenger, launched their own Let There Be Light campaign in response and exclusively revealed that although police had been consulted about the scheme, the force told council chiefs it could not support it.
Miss Brooker began her fight when her disabled neighbour was forced to hide in a wardrobe for more than three hours as would-be intruders tried to break-in to her bungalow within weeks of the scheme starting in their quiet cul-de-sac.
She repeatedly called on KCC to switch streetlights back on while detailed consultations and assessments were carried out, including into the use of light-emitting diode (LED) technology.
Council chiefs kept refusing, and Miss Brooker spent months gathering 11,000 signatures from concerned residents whose streets had been plunged into darkness.
The number which signed was in stark contrast to the 410 residents countywide who responded in support of KCC’s own public consultation into its Safe and Sensible initiative which triggered the switch-off.
Within weeks of the petition deadline in February 2015, KCC performed a dramatic U-turn and said it would be investing £40 million into an LED-system.
It said all overnight lighting would be restored but no time frame for the programme was revealed.
