Lights on the road

THE COUNCIL’S policy of lighting buildings and roads when they are not in use was questioned during the executive meeting held on Thursday, March 31.

Peter Humphreys, a resident, told Cllr Gregor Murray, the executive member for resident services, communications and emissions, that an unopened section of the North Wokingham Distributor Road had been “illuminated every night since last autumn”, while Wokingham’s town centre library and the new Carnival Hub, were also lit up all day, every day.

“Some of the Christmas illuminations in Broad Street are still switched on each night. [Leaving the lights on at Carnival Hub] can’t be for security reasons as it’s unlikely the pool will be stolen,” he said.

Cllr Murray said that the climate emergency “remains a key priority” for the council and everyone, including residents, needed to do their bit to reduce carbon emissions. However, the council also needed to ensure safety and security of residents and staff, hence some lights being left on.

“The Council is committed to working with businesses to increase awareness of good energy efficiency practices, we can remind contractors and staff to switch off lights and be more climate conscious,” he said.

Mr Humphreys said that Cllr Murray’s answer did not address the lighting of the distributor road.

However, the road is still under the jurisdiction of the construction company, so Cllr Murray said there wasn’t much the council could do, other than requesting that they turn the lights off.

“All we can do is ask them, but they are under no obligation to do it,” he said.

Mr Humphreys’ question also addressed issues caused by new trees in the borough dying “due to lack of watering”, with some replacements dying, while at other sites, mature trees had been removed.

“Wokingham is thus in a negative position with regard to trees, how many will need to be planted to achieve a net 250,000 increase?” he asked.

Cllr Murray said that trees planted by developers are part of their obligations and not part of the council’s 250,000 target, and a tree planting strategy is being worked on

He added: “From October 2021 to the end of March 2022, over 15,000 trees have been planted by various community and volunteer groups, schools, Town and Parish Councils, WBC Countryside Service and private landowners. The Council will continue to actively engage the community to support the delivery of this target.”

He also said the council was asking developers

“to live up to their obligations” and promised the local plan update would include “very, very high targets” for tree planting and maturity.