Dobcross square - existing wall lamps
Reporter: Stuart Littleford
Oldham Council has offered reassurance to Dobcross residents who are concerned about planned upgrade work to the street lighting in the village.
Residents have recently received letters from a local street lighting partnership informing them that the work is due to commence soon in the area.
Last year a group of concerned residents made representations to the lighting installer E.ON asking for more information on what type and style of lantern would be used in the village’s conservation areas.
They say they are unaware of the partnership mentioned in the new letter and that their remit is unclear, also that the letter simply states that new street lighting will be installed ‘in your road’, making no mention of the conservation areas.
Cllr Mike Buckley, a Dobcross resident, told Saddleworth News: “Last year I attended a meeting with Karen Heverin and E.ON about the lighting replacements in conservation areas. This is a topic I have expressed concern over since the very beginning when the PFI project was first mooted. Some agreements were reached regarding the colour of lighting columns but as far as I am aware the issue of replacement lanterns and wall brackets was unresolved.
Dobcross square
“Local consultation with residents on the type of replacement was also promised. No further meetings have taken place to my knowledge and I have heard of no further agreements concerning policy in conservation areas. Certainly there has been no local consultation.
“Is this letter an indication that E.ON intend to carry on regardless with a standard lighting solution without any further discussion with elected members or local residents on design?
“The character of our conservation areas is important and much damage to this could be caused by insensitive lighting.”
Carol Brown, Director of Environmental Services at Oldham Council, told Saddleworth News: “I understand the concerns and have made E.ON aware that the letters being generic have prompted the need to be more explicit regarding the work to be undertaken in the conservation areas.
“Following on from previous discussions we have requested that wherever practical the older style lamps are retained and refurbished together with a more detailed programme for these areas.
“It is not the intention to have a one size fits all as it is recognised through working with local Members that some of the villages may seek to retain a lower level of lighting than the general specification and we will work to retain their character. However, as with other parts of the Borough we are held by the contract and we are not in a position to consult individually with residents but will continue to work with local Members.”
Good luck Dobcross residents, we recently had new street lights in Greenfield and had big holes in the pavements for a month while a different contractor got around to filling them in - forcing wheelchairs or prams into the road to get around each hole.
This is a direct result of outsourcing public works to private companies. The decisions on types of street lighting should be the responsibility of the local council in consultation with local residents. Instead we have contract issues, lighting being needlessly replaced and the derived being profit not need.
John’s right about this - last year when I was working at Oldham Broadway Business Park we noticed out of the office windows (onto Gateway Crescent) for a period of a couple of weeks, as contractors removed every lamppost on the road and replaced each one with a new one just a couple of yards down from its predecessor. There was nothing wrong with the old lights. The new ones were just the same! Was clearly OMBC fulfilling some sort of contractual/funding obligation, and was totally pointless.