Angry residents left in dark over relocation of historic street lights
PEOPLE in South Bristol have called a halt to what they describe as the “historical asset-stripping” of their street to benefit nicer areas of the city in a row over lampposts.
They say Bristol City Council chiefs “should be ashamed of themselves” for pulling down their beloved historic lampposts and replacing them with modern ones.
The council confirmed the lampposts would be “recycled” but refused to say where in Bristol they would be reinstalled.
The picturesque, wrought-iron lampposts have stood in Beckington Road for almost 90 years.
The residents say the lamps, still with a little side bar for a ladder to be propped up against them, have cast a warm and friendly orange glow over this cul-de-sac just off Redcatch Road, between Bedminster and Knowle, since the homes were built in the 1930s.
But on Monday people rushed from their homes in horror as council contractors turned up unannounced, took down the five lampposts and replaced them with modern ones.
Their horror turned to fury when the contractors told them the lamps would be refurbished and put back somewhere else, to enhance the surroundings of another, more historic area of Bristol.
Resident Penny Docker said: “Today I’ve come home and I find that, without any request from any of the people in the street, they are taking away our lovely orange street lights to move them elsewhere in Bristol.
“White street lights don’t give anywhere near as much light. The orange ones are friendly, and
they’ve been part of the street since the houses were put up. I think a lot of us are going to be very angry.”
Another resident, who declined to be named, said she was furious when she was told the lampposts were being moved to another part of Bristol.
“They are removing our beautiful, original 1930s street lights and replacing them with black poles. We haven’t been consulted on this at all,” she said.
“They are absolutely beautiful, and we’ve been told by the contractors they are moving them to somewhere else in Bristol.
“This reminds me of the 1980s and 1990s, when parts of Bristol were stripped of their historical assets and everything was sent to north Bristol in order to make Clifton look lovely.
“Bristol City Council should be ashamed of themselves. We don’t have much left in south Bristol, in terms of history, to be proud of.
“If our street was in Clifton or north Bristol this would not be happening.
“We are second class citizens over here – (the) council rides right over us. I know the council won’t put these back and that really hurts. We had no opportunity to save them. They’ve been on our road since it was built.”
After people complained and the Post arrived to photograph the scene, it appeared the contractors received word to halt the work, leaving two lampposts still in place.
Bristol City Council has refused to reveal where in Bristol the lampposts would be moved.
The council said this part of Redcatch was not a conservation area.
“We have been changing columns in non-conservation areas which have been identified as health and safety concerns due to their older cabling, as well as lamps which are not manufactured any more,” a spokesman said.
“New columns with LED lighting will be matched with the existing steel ones, with the previous columns being recycled, but this work has been paused until we have further discussions with residents.”