BREAKING: Colchester Councillors have announced that they will set aside £185,000 of the town’s surplus cash to keep Colchester’s street lights on from midnight to 5am.
Five councillors agreed to pass the motion, three abstained. The cabinet has agreed that the motion will pass through scrutiny and that the borough will continue to chase negotiations with Essex County Council.
Leader Martin Hunt, speaking in favour of the motion, said: “I, personally, am happy to vote on this. I agree to set a sum of money to help turn the lights back on, and we will look at the finer scrutiny in the weeks to come.
“How much is a life worth, £130,000? £185,000?” he added.
It is hoped that the large sum of cash will provide a safety net for the government’s lost funds and help Councillors to illuminate the town’s streets at the end of this year. The funding proposed at tonight’s meeting will only cover costs from 2015/16.
In November 2013, Essex County Council passed through legislation that would turn off 70% of the county’s 127,000 street lights in a bid to cut electrical costs by £130,000.
The cabinet, which met in the Grand Hall at 6pm this evening, also expressed their support for Essex County Council’s new LED lighting pilot. The scheme, which was announced in December 2014 and installed in Colchester earlier this year, converts around 1,700 of the county’s 12-hour streetlights (those that remain on all night) to Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) to save energy.
Numerous petitions, gathering over 3,000 signatures in total, were set up in retaliation to the council’s switch-off in 2013. Those campaigning to repeal the decision cited safety issues and an increase in crime, concerns that were brought to the fore at a council meeting last month.
Councillors from Colchester’s wards delivered their verdicts, both for and against, on the subject at tonight’s meeting.
Speaking on behalf of Wivenhoe Cross residents, a Borough ward close to the University, Cllr Mark Corey, said in support of the decision: “Putting the street lights on this year will give us the chance to negotiate with Essex County Council in the future”.
EADT
BREAKING: Colchester votes to switch street lights back on | The Rabbit Newspaper
BREAKING: Colchester Councillors have announced that they will set aside £185,000 of the town’s surplus cash to keep Colchester’s street lights on from midnight to 5am.
Five councillors agreed to pass the motion, three abstained. The cabinet has agreed that the motion will pass through scrutiny and that the borough will continue to chase negotiations with Essex County Council.
Leader Martin Hunt, speaking in favour of the motion, said: “I, personally, am happy to vote on this. I agree to set a sum of money to help turn the lights back on, and we will look at the finer scrutiny in the weeks to come.
“How much is a life worth, £130,000? £185,000?” he added.
It is hoped that the large sum of cash will provide a safety net for the government’s lost funds and help Councillors to illuminate the town’s streets at the end of this year. The funding proposed at tonight’s meeting will only cover costs from 2015/16.
In November 2013, Essex County Council passed through legislation that would turn off 70% of the county’s 127,000 street lights in a bid to cut electrical costs by £130,000.
The cabinet, which met in the Grand Hall at 6pm this evening, also expressed their support for Essex County Council’s new LED lighting pilot. The scheme, which was announced in December 2014 and installed in Colchester earlier this year, converts around 1,700 of the county’s 12-hour streetlights (those that remain on all night) to Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) to save energy.
Numerous petitions, gathering over 3,000 signatures in total, were set up in retaliation to the council’s switch-off in 2013. Those campaigning to repeal the decision cited safety issues and an increase in crime, concerns that were brought to the fore at a council meeting last month.
Councillors from Colchester’s wards delivered their verdicts, both for and against, on the subject at tonight’s meeting.
Speaking on behalf of Wivenhoe Cross residents, a Borough ward close to the University, Cllr Mark Corey, said in support of the decision: “Putting the street lights on this year will give us the chance to negotiate with Essex County Council in the future”.
EADT