Councillor seeks light on the gloom

Jan 27 2011 Buckinghamshire Examiner

lacey

AN ANGRY councillor has lashed out at Buckinghamshire County Council (BCC) because areas of Chesham have been left in darkness since 'unsafe' street lights were removed two months ago.

Town councillor Derek Lacey (pictured) is annoyed with BCC for removing 19 street lights in November following an annual safety check.

Of those, 10 were back up and working within a couple of weeks, but BCC said it was unlikely the other nine would be functional before the Christmas and new year holiday because a delivery of lanterns was outstanding.

But with the end of January just a few days away, parts of Pond Park still remain in darkness.

Mr Lacey said: "I think it's disgusting. We were promised to have them by the start of the year.

"It's really not good enough. It looks like they have turned our street lights off early.

"It's pitch black around here for people; it's going to be lighter at night soon, so are they going to bother replacing them?"

Mr Lacey voiced his concerns after residents at a recent Pond Park Community Association meeting raised the issue.

Rosemary Bryant, from Transport for Buckinghamshire, said: "We had 10 working by December. Additionally, we have installed columns in Waterside and installed temporary lanterns on every alternate column to ensure some form of lighting was available.

"We did not have stock of these lanterns before Christmas but we received a delivery this week. Providing this delivery is for our structural replacements, they will be installed as soon as possible." * What do you think? Send an email to camillagoodman@ trinitysouth.co.uk.