Times News
Campaigners hit out at county council plans not to review street lighting policy until next summer
3:20pm Friday 3rd February 2012
Campaigners have hit out at Hertfordshire County Council and its decision not to review its part-time street lighting policy for another 18 months.
It was announced this week the county council will not review the policy until it has been in place across the whole county for a year.
Daniel Graham, leader of the campaign Turn our Street Lights Back On, said: “The council have clearly not listened to anything the campaign has said and they have failed to recognise the issues we have.
“We have not had anything in the way of official contact or dialogue with the council and we feel we are being ignored.
“I’m absolutely flabbergasted at the lack of engagement from the council, especially over something which is affecting a lot of people in the county.”
The campaign has now received more than 1300 signatures for its petition called Turn our Street Lights Back On, both on paper and online on the county council website.
It also received coverage from BBC London News who reported on the county wide blackout on February 2.
The planned switch off of street lights from midnight to 6am has been introduced in different parts of Hertfordshire since mid-2011.
Hertfordshire County Council brought in the policy to reduce the county’s carbon footprint and save more than £1m in energy bills.
However campaigners have argued the council have not taken into account the social cost of turning the street lights off, and it has left people feeling like prisoners in their own homes.