Clowne, Whitwell & Creswell: Last chance for residents to have their say on Derbyshire County Council proposals

Derbyshire residents have until Friday and Saturday to have their say on two County Council consultations to help the authority deal with £157 million budget cuts.
Derbyshire County CouncilDerbyshire County Council
Derbyshire County Council

The consultation about possible changes to the way street lights across Derbyshire are maintained closes on Friday (8th August) while and the deadline for comments about proposals to change the council’s mobile library service is Saturday (9th August).

The possible street light changes that residents are being asked for their views on are only replacing failed light bulbs in priority locations, deciding which locations should be priority locations, investing in LED light bulbs and dimming LED light bulbs in some locations at night.

The council’s deputy cabinet member for jobs, economy and transport, Coun Dean Collins, said: ““Because we have to cut £157 million from our budgets, we’re facing budget pressures like never before.”

“This means that we have cut the amount of money we have available to spend on street lighting by £775,000 a year.”

“I know that many people will be unhappy with what we are proposing but we really have no choice.”

“We are looking at investing in LED light bulbs – which would cost several million pounds – but would save us money in the long run.”

“We are also asking residents for their views on this.”

“We want to know what local residents think of our proposals and I would encourage everyone to have their say.”

Locations that are suggested for being priorities for having street light bulbs replaced include town centres, places with significant night time accident records, areas identified by the Police as having an above average record of crime, street lights installed for community safety reasons, areas with sheltered housing and other residences where vulnerable people live, around hospitals, nursing homes, sheltered housing, fire and police stations, areas with a 24-hour operations emergency service site including hospitals and nursing homes, areas with local council or police CCTV equipment, areas around pedestrian crossings, subways and enclosed footpaths and where road safety measures are in place, like roundabouts, chicanes, speed-humps and central carriageway islands.

Meanwhile, more than 7,000 residents have already taken part in the council’s mobile library consultation which has been running in two stages since January.

The second stage, developed using feedback from people who took part in stage one, outlines a proposal to maintain two standard mobile libraries working to a four-weekly timetable.

Further comments on the full range of options and alternative suggestions about how the mobile library service should be provided in the future also continue to be welcomed.

The street lighting consultation is online at www.derbyshire.gov.uk/lights. Paper copies are available in libraries.

Mobile library consultation questionnaires are available in all county council branch and mobile libraries and GP surgeries or can be completed online at www.derbyshire.gov.uk/mobilelibraries