Pensioner’s fears over lights switch-off
Tuesday 16th September 2008, 6:59PM BST.
A Powys pensioner has compared a night-time shut down of streetlights to the World War Two blackout. Dennis Cleaton fears darkened streets could cause accidents.
The 75-year-old remembers problems during the war-time clampdown on lighting to confuse German pilots.
He said: “The council has gone mad and opened the door to more crime at night, more danger for road users of all kinds and a new higher accident rate in Powys.
“Winter is bad enough here usually but without our street lights it will really become a war-time blackout.”
He said in Victoria Road, Llandrindod Wells, where he lives, the switching off of one streetlight which lit a bend in the road and a junction, had left them completely in the dark.
“Victoria Road is used by dozens of children walking to Llandrindod High School, as well as coaches which drop off other pupils,” he said. “There is also an old people’s home nearby.”
He added: “I am really frightened that without a light, during the dark winter mornings and evenings, someone will be hurt or even killed.”
The county council said two out of three lights in non-sensitive areas would be switched off as it attempted to manage its power budget following massive increases in the cost of energy.
Councillor Gwilym Evans, board member for local services, said: “The board decided the only way to keep within budget with the scale of increases was to switch off the majority of lights in some areas.”
Sensitive and problem areas, including those covered by CCTV, pedestrian and zebra crossings, near hospitals, medical centres and sheltered housing, will not be affected.
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A safer method would have been for all councillors to have stopped taking their allowances.
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Dennis: Just take a torch with you and think how you are doing your bit to keep Huw Peach and his Global Warming chums happy.
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Come on people – Is it really neccesary to have lights (street lights) on after 9pm?
I vote to turn them all off.
If you live in the countryside you do not have street lights.
A waste of my council tax to keep street lights on after 9pm.
Maybe if it was pitch dark it would deter youths from hanging around in gangs on street corners as well.
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Actually Y Mab it would probably make things worse. This is why you should always park your car in a well-lit area, walk down well-lit main roads on your way to or from home at night, etc. Yobs thrive when nobody can see them.
And though we know you prefer to hide away indoors after 6pm, a lot of people are still out and about after 9pm including pedestrians – shutting off the street lights so that they are harder for motorists to see doesn’t sound like the best idea in history.
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Is that so man – I have to admit I have never seen any mobs thriving in the darkness on our countryside lanes and small villages.
In fact the only yobs I see tend to habit well lit area’s late at night.
Of perhaps the yobs wear camoflage in the countryside making it much harder to see them in which case sir you are indeed right
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Man: My car has headlights – doesn’t yours?
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Man I agree with Lucy W if you need street lights to see people at night when you are driving you really should not be allowed to control a car you should hand in your license or visit your opticians
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^ Exactly Lucy w. People need to learn how to drive properly at night time (and in general)… Whilst I am not disputing that street lights benefit pedestrians. I dont think a lack of street lights should cause a problem for drivers. You alter your speed for the conditions you are in.
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Y Mab – Comparing the countryside to the towns and cities of Britain is like comparing apples to Renault Clios. If you really believe that’s a valid comparison, I don’t see how anybody could possibly have a serious conversation with you.
Lucy W – Of course my car has headlights. But at night, when a daft pedestrian is walking down the road at night in dark clothes, stumbling into your path after a night at the pub, why make it even *more* difficult to see him? On a road with no light whatsoever, you have enough to worry about without wondering whether there are pedestrians wandering around in black leather jackets or whatever. It’s not a case of safe driving so much as simply making sure that it’s easier to see people.
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Right. Dennis is my grandad and he is the best!
What he says is completely right. Think of the crime rates today, without street lights will make it even worse! You people are naive to think they will go down and people will be safer. I’m a teenager and I know what goes on with the youth of today… YOU ARE WRONG.
Love you loads Grandad! I think you should be Prime Minister! VOTE DENNIS!
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this is a really prudent way to tackle climate change and improve the countryside for astronomers and wildlife, well done powys cc
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Thank you Charley, It is pitch black here all night, and the lights were not supposed to go off until 11.30pm!! . That is ok in some ways, but Crime will increase in dark winter days, and so will the accidents!! And the local High School by me has loads of kids morning and night, with many parent;s cars, and many on foot- so we do need our Street Lights in town!! I pay lots of Council Tax, and other Taxes, and I lived in the country as a boy in the dark in WW2. Why did they install so many lights in Shrewsbury?? This place in Powys only has 5.000 residents, and the Lights have been reduced by 67%!! Do you really want that in Shrewbury?? VOTE NOW…..
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Without Lights all Street Cameras will be useless!! So so do you want them to go as well in Shrewsbury!! VOTE NOW…..
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Man: I know Y Mab can speak for his self, but the town and country are the same, apparently, that’s why the majority of townies had fox-hunting banned when the majority of bumpkins had no problem with it. The country is an industrial area known as agriculture!
I regularly walk down country roads at night, with no pavements and lights, and the traffic is considerably faster them 30mph! But no-one gets hurt because we have to have common sense out here. Trouble with townies is they have become victims of “cotton wool” syndrome.
Re your “drunk in the head lights” scenario, you are either describing the inevitable accident or your are driving too fast for the conditions – SLOW DOWN IF YOU FEEL THAT THERE IS A RISK OF AN ACCIDENT.
Charley: I was touched by your fondness of your Granddad, perhaps you could escort him or ferry him in your car from time to time? Or may be help him so he doesn’t need to go out at difficult times? That’s what I do for my Dad even though he’s not afraid to go out.
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Lucy W.. Your opinions are getting very similar to that Y Mab thing.. either you are trying to impress him, or living in the same mad world as him ! Good luck either way !
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If they go off .. or supposed to go off at 11.30pm there is no need on putting them on when people stumble out the pubs at all hours of the morning anyway! The ones by my house stay on ALL night untill about 5 in the morning and then they are turned off…maybe that is what this place needs! However, i think people looking to do the crime will actually do it with or without lights! That really doesnt matter! They do it regardless now! As for the kids at school…i remember when i was at school, i never walked in the pitch black! Or any darkness at that matter! I think that The whole thing is being blown out of proportion! And the whole thing needs re thinking!
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Shocked: Thank you – Great minds think alike!
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i live in the countryside and have no street lights its lovely, but yet i still pay the same council tax as i would if i had street lights so whats the point of this again????
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dont be daft, its OUR moeny being saved here, so it must be a good thing, and environmentally too
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Powys C C wrote off £625000 of bad debts in the form of unpaid council taxes last year so expect more cuts to come
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I agree Lucy W, yourself and myself are truly great minds on here – unfortunately it falls upon us to enlighten the world with our laws of common sense
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if all the street lights in the county are turned off does anybody really think they will get a council tax rebate…don’t think so…
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Frank Spencer you will find in your council tax renewel form a table of where the council tax money is spent ie
Police, Fire service, roads lighting etc
If lighting is turned off at 9pm until the next day at 4pm (in the winter) that will save a lot of money
So yes you will get a council tax reduction.
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Spencer: Too true, they will use the saving to go on “fact-finding” trips to expensive places abroad!
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How’s this for a consideration? Not everyone has access to a car or wants/needs to use public transport in town & more built up areas. Now, think, how would you like it if you had to walk in the dark through populated areas during thhe hours of darkness?
Finally, for everyone banging on about being environmentally friendly, turning off streetlights will only serve to increase the amount of journeys being undertaken by cars because people don’t want to walk in the dark.
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Lucy W: Thanks, and I would ferry him but I’m 14 years old. And I would also escort him, but I live an hour and a half away. And I also have other things to do in my life (GCSE year this year!)
But yes, I do love him :-)
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Switching off 66% of our lights in Powys all Night was the Powys CC Plan. But they are off for all the hours of darkness now 7pm to 7am!!!!!!
A large High School next to me will have many buses and cars moving around here in the dark for this WINTER soon. It is just not safe without Streelights on for them and the walkers,etc. That is why lights were put here at some cost years ago, if those in the country dark just do’t stop to cosider that point!! I was in the country all of WW2 with my bike and later, without any lights, but we are not in that situation now!! Where does Mab live I wonder??
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See, 4 cars have already been torched in Rhayder. What did I say?! Told you, this is only the beginning my friends!
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When we came to live in the area in 1977, all our village street lights were on until midnight when they all went off automatically. No one complained, and we could enjoy the hours of darkness to get a good night’s sleep.
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