Whitchurch street lights to stay switched off at night despite petition
Whitchurch will remain in the dark at night – despite a petition signed by more than 1,000 people calling for some street lights to be switched back on.
Campaigner Jane Kirk handed in the 1,222-name document to a Shropshire Council meeting yesterday and called for one in three street lights in Whitchurch to be turned back on for safety reasons.
But the authority's transport chief Councillor Claire Wild said it would be more dangerous to switch only some of the lights back on – because it would create a "strobing" effect and slow down drivers' reactions.
A proposal to take no further action was backed by 37 votes to 24.
Mrs Kirk said some of the lights were owned and operated by Shropshire Council and the rest were run by Whitchurch Town Council.
She added: "The town council ones go off at around midnight, Shropshire Council ones are off earlier from 10.30pm onwards. We think this is dangerous especially because people's safety is paramount.
"Figures show that between March 2010 and March 2011, 324 people were killed or seriously injured in parts of the country where lights have been switched off."
But Councillor Wild said she had been advised it would be "extremely dangerous" to switch odd lights back on.
"I was speaking to an expert on this at the council, and he said that if every other light was left on then drivers would not be able to adapt quickly enough," she said.
"It would create a strobing effect and increase the risk of accidents."
Campaigners in Market Drayton have also set up a petition calling for Shropshire Council to switch street lights back on.
