LETTER: Council is plunging county into darkness

Currently, there is a massive and growing backlog of broken street lights which is putting our communities at risk.

And when residents report the problem they are being told it will be many months before the lamps are repaired.

It is almost 18 months since the council decided to replace old-style bulbs with longer-lasting LED lights. But the council took around nine months to appoint a contractor and introduced a policy of not maintaining existing lights and allowing them to black out.

The council is putting almost all available resources on its LED replacement programme — rolling out in the north east of the county — leaving just a handful of staff to repair broken lights.

So while the lights shine brightly in the Labour heartlands of north east Derbyshire and Bolsover the rest of the county is paying the price. Not only is it unfair and inefficient, it is putting local communities, drivers and pedestrians in danger in my view.

Please let me know if your community is having problems getting your street lights fixed.

Councillor Simon Spencer

Deputy Leader of the

Conservatives, 
Derbyshire County Council