Motion 1 – Street Lighting in West Lindsey
“Chairman
In 2016 Lincolnshire County Council turned off almost half of the street lights across the County resulting in many residents living in fear for their safety at night.
At a recent presentation by Lincolnshire Police (18th Feb ) it was stated that the lack of street lighting has significantly impacted on crime levels in parts of the Gainsborough South West Ward and their ability to effectively deal with crime during hours of darkness.
Perception of personal safety is important especially for the vulnerable. The recent events of the Sarah Everards case have placed emphasis on women’s safety, particularly at night time.
Surely it is time this position was re-considered?
I call upon Members to support this motion requesting that the Leader of this Council commences robust discussions with Leading Members of the County Council with a view to seeking the re-introduction of street lighting in parts of West Lindsey, particularly into those communities we ourselves have deemed to be vulnerable.
Furthermore, the Leader be required to feed back to this Council, by way of report to Prosperous Communities, the outcome of these discussion, potential options which could be investigated and their associated costs.
I so move”
Councillor Trevor Young, Leader of the Opposition, and Ward Member for the Gainsborough South- West Ward.
Minutes:
The Chairman advised the meeting that one motion pursuant to Council Procedure Rule No.10 had been submitted to the meeting, this was as set out in the agenda.
Councillor Trevor Young, was invited to put his motion to the meeting, as follows: -
“Chairman
In 2016 Lincolnshire County Council turned off almost half of the street lights across the County resulting in many residents living in fear for their safety at night.
At a recent presentation by Lincolnshire Police (18th Feb ) it was stated that the lack of street lighting has significantly impacted on crime levels in parts of the Gainsborough South West Ward and their ability to effectively deal with crime during hours of darkness.
Perception of personal safety is important especially for the vulnerable. The recent events of the Sarah Everards case have placed emphasis on women’s safety, particularly at night time.
Surely it is time this position was re-considered?
I call upon Members to support this motion requesting that the Leader of this Council commences robust discussions with Leading Members of the County Council with a view to seeking the re-introduction of street lighting in parts of West Lindsey, particularly into those communities we ourselves have deemed to be vulnerable.
Furthermore, the Leader be required to feed back to this Council, by way of reporting to Prosperous Communities, the outcome of these discussions, potential options which could be investigated and their associated costs.
I so move”
Having being duly seconded debate ensued, with the Leader of the Council indicating that he was unable to support the Motion, and outlined his reasons for this. He considered there was a more appropriate way for this matter to be addressed - that being for individual town and parishes with support from their County Councillor, to approach the County Council direct regarding their specific area, an option which was currently available.
The facts within the Motion were disputed. A dual hatted Member indicated she had sought further information direct from the County and had been advised of the 68,000 street lights owned by LCC 42,000 remained on for part of the night. This approach saved £2.5 million for the tax payer. Data available showed no correlation between lighting and crime levels, and whilst perception of crime initially rose this had eased. There was a danger that fear could be easily created. There was a process by which street lighting could be reintroduced, with parishes and neighbourhoods being charged a one-off fee.
Councillor Young as the Motion submitter was asked to quantify the statement made regarding Lincolnshire Police, which some Members considered was at odds with their understanding and as such they could not support the Motion.
In responding, reference was made to the pledges which had been made in recent County Council and Police Commissioner elections. The statement had been made at a Member briefing on 18 February attended by the Police and Crime Commissioner when he had spoken of the difficulties the force were experiencing hampered by street lighting.
Councillor Young further advised of campaign pledges made by the Crime Commissioner and of his visits to Gainsborough and had indicated he would support any campaign to re-instate street lighting on those streets where there had been an impact. In Gainsborough Councillor Young was of the view almost 90% of the street lights were off. During lockdown crime in the area had significantly increased, the darkness allowed crime to thrive. As a Council, he considered it a duty to ensure residents had safe environments to live, without a safe environment there was little point. Personal Safety had to be a priority, not a political matter, and Councillor Young urged the Council to acknowledge the issue existed, commence robust discussions with the County Council and report back to this Committee options and costs to re-introduce street lights where they were required.
Reference was made to the work undertaken by a former Leader of this Council, however the costs were significantly higher than those that had been stated by previous speakers. He urged the council to fully understand the costs and the options to a full discussion about finding a solution. Can areas be turned on, individual lights?, individual streets? The Chamber were again urged to acknowledge the problem, Gainsborough was in total darkness after midnight, it had a night time economy, with aspirations for this to grow. Members were challenged to walk Gainsborough in the evening and confirm they felt safe.
The facts were again disputed but Members were keen to understand where these differences had arisen.
Personal perception data was not collected and yet personal perception was key, this impacted lives and if the District was to be successful in attracting businesses , visitors, employment, personal safety and public perception needed to be addressed.
Some Members were not supportive of the reporting back proposal and questioned the constitutional appropriateness. In response it was suggested both the process and testing the evidence were not the real issues for discussion. Community safety was of paramount importance, people needed to feel safe. Speaking to residents there was a genuine fear.
A Member suggested a report back to Council, following discussions with LCC and the Police and Crime Commissioner, outlining those areas which may benefit, may be more appropriate and something he could support should the Motion be amended.
Several Gainsborough Ward Members spoke of the experience of the town of an evening, the feedback received from residents, concerns around emergency services been unable to find addresses. It was suggested a saving of £2.5 million within a budget the size of the County Council’s was not significant enough given the impact on the community. Councillor Devine, Gainsborough East Ward Member advise Members he had written directly to the Executive Member of the County Council , but had been advised there was no evidence to suggest crime had increased in the absence of street lighting.
A request for a recorded vote was made and duly seconded by a further Member.
On being put to the vote, votes were cast in the following manner: -
For: - Councillors Boles, Bunney, Clews, Cotton, Coulson, Darcel, Davies, Devine, Dobbie, Hill, Howitt-Cowan, Panter, Rainsforth, Rollings, M Snee, J Snee, White, and Young (18)
Against: - Councillors Bierley, Brockway, England, Fleetwood, Grimble, , Lawrence, McCartney, J McNeill, Morris, Patterson, Rodgers, Summers and Waller (13)
Abstentions: - G McNeill (1)
With a total of 18 votes in favour, 13 votes against and 1 abstention, it was it was RESOLVED that the motion be ACCEPTED and as such
(a) The Leader of the Council to commences robust discussions with Leading Members of the County Council with a view to seeking the re-introduction of street lighting in parts of West Lindsey, particularly into those communities we ourselves have deemed to be vulnerable; and
(b) the Leader feed back to this Council, by way of reporting to Prosperous Communities, the outcome of these discussions, potential options which could be investigated and their associated costs.