NI’s 12,700 broken street lights will cost £870,000 to fix

THERE are more than 12,700 broken street lights across Northern Ireland, with the Department for Infrastructure facing a repair bill of £870,000, according to minister Nichola Mallon.

In response to a question from Ulster Unionist MLA Andy Allen, the Department for Infrastructure said the cost of providing a full street lighting repair service was £3.2m annually.

It added that as of Monday there were 12,713 reported street lighting outages, with the cost of repairing them all estimated at £870,000.

David Ramsay, a DUP councillor in Londonderry, said the issue of broken lighting had created a lot of anger in his local community.

“In this day and age we expect to have street lighting and obviously people pay rates towards all of this,” he added.

“The money needs to be invested in this because it is a public service that is very much required.

“There are lights I reported in my area five months ago that are still out.”

Mr Allen said he was motivated to raise the issue with the minister after receiving correspondence from a number of residents across his East Belfast constituency.

“It is an issue that has been raised with me by many constituents across east Belfast,” he explained.

“I do appreciate and understand the maintenance section in the department is working hard to repair street lighting in a timely manner.

“However, in some cases it is taking a considerable period of time.”

In a statement, the Department for Infrastructure welcomed an allocation of £3m for street lighting repairs, winter gritting services and road maintenance.

Infrastructure Minister Mallon said: “I recognise the importance of street lighting repairs in terms of public safety and residents’ confidence. My department is striving to repair the outages in the most efficient manner.

“I am delighted that the Finance Minister has listened to my representations regarding the urgent need to fix our broken street lights and potholes and to ensure our roads are salted during cold weather.

“Services like these are vital to ensure communities feel safe.”