Residents left in fear – and dark – as street lights fail
VULNERABLE residents say they have been living in fear for more than a month as a result of broken street lights outside their homes.
Elderley residents of Grantham Close say they feel unsafe in their homes during the long nights and have been frustrated in their efforts to have the lights repaired.
The homes are situated opposite a grassed area, and householders are worried that criminals may be able to approach undetected in the dark.
The fears come after Sefton Council axed a service through which broken lights were reported by staff.
Since the service ended as part of cost-cutting efforts on December 15, broken lights are no longer monitored and must be reported by members of the public or councillors.
According to the council’s guidelines, routine lighting faults should be repaired within five working days, or 28 calendar days in the case of a mains failure.
More than a month has gone since the problem was reported and the residents remain in the dark over when work will carried out. The council says that a backlog of such jobs has built up since the change of system.
Cllr Iain Brodie Browne, who is helping residents with their concerns, said: “This is an unacceptable level of service from the council. Street lighting plays an important part in helping residents feel safe.
“The housing development is principally for older people and you would have hoped the council could have got its act together to sort out this problem. I have now taken the matter up with the council and I hope it is will soon be sorted.”
A spokesman for Sefton Council said: “As part of the budget setting process to save £64m by 2020, a decision was made in March 2017 to introduce a change to the street lighting maintenance function.
“The new service has just started and unfortunately there is a backlog of reported street lights not working, including the one at Grantham Close, Birkdale. We will endeavour to repair this as soon as possible.
“Also agreed earlier in the budget process was a decision to end the night scouting service which previously identified all non-functioning lighting units. We will now be fully reliant on the public, councillors and other stakeholders to report faults regarding any electrical street furniture and hope everyone lets us know if they spot any broken lights.
“There are a number of ways to do this – however, the best way is to use the online reporting tool on www.sefton.gov.uk/4656.
‘‘Other ways to report faults include by emailing streetlighting.enquiries@ sefton.gov.uk or by calling 0345 1400845.”