Lib Dems brand Herts Part-night lighting a "Disgrace"

Liberal Democrats have branded the review of the controversial lighting scheme which sees street lighting only being lit for several hours of the night in Hertz as a ‘disgrace’ and a ‘charade’. At the start of October, an entire day was spent analyzing the scheme which has seen streetlights being switched off between 12 and 6am since the summer period of 2011. The meeting was attended by the conservative controlled county council’s overview and scrutiny committee.

However, any recommendation that was made were rejected by Cllr Terry Doris, the Tory Cabinet member for highways –including the suggestion of switching back to full lighting to those routes popular with pedestrians. Justifying his decision, Cllr Douris said: "The current policy, whilst not universally popular or universally unpopular, is definitive and consistent, which is important when in the face of public or legal challenge. Increasing any lighting will have a knock on effect immediately increasing our costs and carbon impact. This would contribute to additional costs, which would necessitate the council to find savings elsewhere."

Cllr Stephen Giles-Medhurst, Herts Lib Dem leader claimed, “We have been led up the garden path”.

"A promise of a review was widely used by Conservatives in May’s county council elections, but it has turned out to be a whitewash as all suggested changes were rejected. Even when we had suggested a way of getting some lights back on without it costing the county a penny, it was turned down. Clearly we were all conned and the process has turned out to be a charade. It is a disgrace."

The review was drawn up following a report midway through September which stated the project had saved£1.3m a year, 5,316 tonnes of carbon and met or exceeded its objectives on economic, environmental and safety grounds. Other recommendations made included removing lights from areas where crime levels were no longer high and places where people did not tend to go late at night.