Shropshire street lighting switch-off scheme set to continue

Councillors yesterday voted unanimously to continue with part night lighting which sees street lights in designated areas switched off between midnight and 5.30am.

It is hoped the move will eventually save the council £170,000.

However the scheme, which is halfway through being implemented, is not a hit with everyone despite police bosses saying there has been no increase in crime.

Members of the authority's environment and services scrutiny committee yesterday received a petition from people living in the Bagley, Harlescott, Battlefield, Castlefields, Ditherington, Sundorne, Quarry and Coton Hill wards of Shrewsbury.

The petition requested that the lights be turned back on after midnight "to deter crime and make residents feel safer".

The committee was told the petition was signed by 854 people.

However, those wards contain more than 13,400 properties – therefore the petition represented around 6.3 per cent of the electorate in those areas, the meeting heard.

Councillor Dean Carroll, who represents Bagley ward, said: "Perception and fear of crime among the vulnerable members of the community has risen. Can we have another closer look at this and see how we can help allay the fears of a huge section of the community?"

Committee chairman Vince Hunt, councillor for Oswestry West, said: "We did ask if it would be possible to have every other light off, but this creates shadows which would contribute further to people's sense of endangerment."

Jason Hughes, the council's street lighting officer, said: "We have had very positive comments from people about the lighting. We have only had 0.1 per cent of people writing in to say they are against it – 99.9 per cent of the public have not had an issue with it."

Mr Hughes also said the council had investigated the possibility of LED lighting but it was not, at this stage, a realistic option.

Superintendent James Tozer addressed the committee's concerns about fewer lights leading to more crime.

He said: "Since this scheme began, crime has actually gone down. There has been a 34 per cent fall in the number of burglaries since last year."

Shropshire Council operates 18,302 street lights across the county of which 6,048 have been deemed crucial.

The remaining 12,254 street lights are being switched off between midnight and 5.30am.

• Star comment: Darkened streets not all gloom