One of the noticeable cuts that can be seen (or rather not seen) on the streets of Welwyn and Hatfield is the switching off of streetlights. From midnight until 7am, many of our streets have been plunged in to darkness.
The Tory County Council attempted to defend the cut by commissioning a report into the rise in crime since the switch-off. Apparently, there is “no evidence to suggest crime levels have been affected.” It’s interesting that the report looked only at Welham Green before coming to the conclusion that we are at no greater risk from crime. Residents in Welham Green were quick to petition the Council into turning back on some street lights, such was the public outcry at their village being plunged into darkness.
It’s also interesting that no-one has looked at how safe people feel with the lights off. We are not asking for more investigations and more of our money being wasted to support this cut. We don’t need to. We talk to residents and it’s clear that people feel unsafe in the dark.
One resident even told us of making a report to the police after being followed as they returned from work late one night. Others, many of them dog walkers, have explained to us how they have altered their habits to avoid being out when the lights go out.
You can test the effect of this cut yourself. The question is simple: How do you feel walking down an unlit street after midnight?
It’s long been accepted that the fear of crime is as significant a measure as actual crime figures. It’s important to make people feel safe. Switching lights off does nothing to help that.
We’ve also had reports of the switch-off going wrong. In some streets, the lights have mysteriously switched off in the early evening. We have no idea of the cost of fixing the problem. The repairs will just have to be added to the cost of all the technical work that had to be done to switch the lights off in the first place!
So, it’s costing us just to keep the lights off. Ultimately, we’re paying to feel unsafe on our own streets.
