Town sees the light as lamp powers up after seven-year row

A STREET lamp has finally been turned on, seven years after its installation prompted a row over who should pay to power it.

The roadside fixture was allowed to illuminate Foundry Lane, Burnhamon-crouch, Essex, after councillors agreed to spend £1,000 on solar panels, plus £80 per year in cleaning costs.

Relieved residents described the development as a “godsend”, after nearly a decade of being forced to stumble along a “pitch black” path leading to the local railway station.

Sarah Warren, 52, told the BBC: “The bureaucracy was idiotic – I cannot understand why they put a lamp up with no power to it.

“My mother is wheelchair-bound, so when we have to come across the crossing at night or during the winter evenings, there’s absolutely no light at all. It is pitch dark – there are no street lights round here either side of the path, so this is an absolute godsend.”

Bob Calvar, the mayor, said: “The original plan went as far as us erecting the post and us paying £750 a year [for electricity]. But the plan didn’t connect it to the mains, and that was a mistake. The original county council quote to connect it up was £4,000 to £5,000.”

The dispute arose after Maldon district council, on whose land the streetlamp stands, refused to pay for the connection.

It said it had no objection to the county council doing so, but that any costs should be borne by the town council “which originally requested the street light to be installed”.

“We’ve found a new solution that wasn’t available seven years ago,” Mr Calvar said.

He described the solar panel set-up as having the “advantage of being affordable and green”.