Following the concerns raised by local residents, Daisy Benson and the local Lib Dems launched a campaign at the end of last year calling on Reading Borough Council to upgrade street lighting around the University area. As a result of this, the Council agreed to increase the amount of money it spends on street lighting but we are concerned that the Council is still not investing enough in this vital area.
On Tuesday I asked the following question of RBC at its full
Council meeting:
“The street lighting around Redlands and the University is
mostly of the old-style sodium-discharge lighting and has been found to be
seriously inadequate both in terms of poor light output and crime reduction.
Police crime figures show that several streets in particular Cardigan Road,
Cardigan Gardens and Foxhill Rd are crime hotspots which could be overcome with
lighting upgrades.
Since Vaughan Norris of RBC's Highways department, has
recently stated:
“Clearly this initial allocation does not allow for a
significant number of streets to be carried out in each ward. Whilst the
priority has to be replacing those that are life expired, it is intended to try
and identify at least one scheme in each ward in the initial £500,000
allocation.”
How many more years does the Lead Member for Transport
expect Redlands residents will be expected to wait for streetlights to be
brought into the 21st century? Also do they believe funding only 1.5% of the
street lighting stock across the whole of Reading is acceptable to achieve
safer streets?”
The Labour Council’s Lead Member for Transport gave the
following written answer to my question:
“The council acknowledges that the replacement of the older
style columns throughout the borough requires major investment. The annual
Local Transport Plan settlement includes an element for the replacement of life
expired streetlights within its highway maintenance element. Whilst there is no
specific guidance, a general rule of thumb is that 5% of the budget should be
allocated to this replacement work. Based on last year’s allocation, the LTP
budget will be around £65,000.”
This requires us to look to alternative sources of
additional funding to meet the ambitious programme of renewal works the Council
is seeking to carry out. Cabinet has approved an additional £500,000 of capital
funding for 2008/2009 to support this programme.
“The Council will endeavour to identify additional funding
for future years, but it is impossible to make certain predictions about when particular
streets or columns will be given attention. “
I have also raised the matter with Emma Jones, Neighbourhood
Projects Officer based in the Community Safety Team at RBC. I have asked her to
consider making funding available for better streetlighting on Cardigan Road,
Cardigan Gardens and Foxhill Road as a priority. Cllr Daisy Benson has also
requested that the Council reviews lighting on Hatherley Road, Donnington
Gardens, Blenheim Gardens, Junction Road and Donnington Road to see if they can
be added to the Council’s list for upgrades.
It is clear that at present improving the lighting around
the University area is not a priority to Reading’s Labour-run Council. My Lib
Dem colleagues and I will continue to campaign for lighting improvements.
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