Fury at Tory failure to install lights at St Ann’s Wells Gardens

Failure by the Conservative-led council to install lights in St Ann’s Wells Gardens in Hove has been met with fury by local Labour councillors.

A 1,500 strong petition called for eco and wildlife-friendly lights to be installed in the popular park in Hove to make it safer for those that use it as a cut-through at night, while a section 106 imposed as a condition on the developer of 70 flats in nearby Somerhill Avenue has led to £10,000 being set aside to install eco-friendly lighting in the park.

However, local Labour councillors say that at a recent council meeting Tory Environment Cabinet Member, Cllr Geoffrey Theobald, refused to give the move the go-ahead, although Cllr Theobald insists tax payers’ money may be better spent elsewhere in the park and a consultation will take place in the spring to assess the various options.

Hove Labour Councillor for Goldsmid Ward, Melanie Davis, said: “I am furious with Tory Environment Spokesperson for ignoring a straight forward request from nearly 1,500 local people. So much for ‘Localism’.

“Residents felt very strongly about the need for lighting to improve the safety of the area and allow people to make use of the only open space in the vicinity. The request for eco-friendly lights was based on the desire to preserve the balance of remarkable wildlife that existed in the park.

“The petition was supported by both the Local Action Team and the local police and I had hoped the Tory Environment Cabinet Member too would give assurances that the funding set aside as part of the Section 106 Agreement, would be used to provide the lights requested. Instead he just dithered and I’m sure the local community will be very disappointed by this response.”

Cllr Theobald pointed out that lighting wasn’t listed as an area of improvement by Green Flag judges that monitor parks.

He said: “”We know that we need to make improvements to the park and none of the improvements listed by the Green Flag judges included lighting. Instead improvements to the play area, landscape planting, signage, fencing and better user and wildlife monitoring are listed in the Green Flag Report and there is a need to address the sensory garden and shelter. We must consider safety issues as well. The council is committed to reducing its carbon footprint and protecting and enhancing wild life, and lighting in parks works against these objectives.”

He added: “We need to do further work on this and I feel that it is important that we speak to the Friends Group and other users of the park to assess the options, costs and pros and cons to ensure that we do what is best for the park, our environment and council tax payers money. This consultation should take place in the Spring when more people are out and about using the park.”

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Posted by on February 8, 2011. Filed under Conservatives,Council News,Featured,Goldsmid,Labour. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry