Third of 1,600 appeals over street light switch-offs in Northamptonshire successful

Personal Injury Northamptonshire ABOUT a third of appeals against the turning-off of individual street lights in Northamptonshire have resulted in change, according to figures released by Northamptonshire County Council. The council planned to switch off about 33,000 street lights across the county, in a bid to save the authority £2 million per year. But the move was controversial, with many residents contacting the Chronicle & Echo over the past few weeks to complain. The authority revealed last night it had received a total of 1,595 appeals against the switching-off of individual street lights. Having processed 685 of these appeals so far, a spokeswoman said about a third had resulted in change. Nigel Robinson, of Marston Way in Daventry, contacted the Chron after his four-year-old Yorkshire terrier, Brandy, was hit by a car in the street where he lives. He blamed a lack of street lights in the area for the accident. He said: “All three nearest to my property have been switched off so it really is pitch black and the only lights in my area are from my house. “On Monday night my dog got run over outside my house. The woman driving said she just didn’t see him.” Mr Robinson said Brandy, who starred as Toto in William Parker School’s production of The Wizard of Oz, had been lucky to survive. A spokeswoman for Northamptonshire County Council said: “The lights were not turned off on an ad-hoc basis and switching off about half of the 66,000 street lights owned by the county council did not mean that we were simply switching off every other light. “Instead we worked hard to establish a rationale and have liaised closely with the police to help make our decisions. “Once the switch-off was completed we carried out inspections to assess what changes were required and have reacted to genuine concerns which are evidence based.” To raise an issue regarding streetlightsm people can email highways@ northamptonshire.gov.uk source: northamptonchron.co.uk