OPPOSITION parties in Caerphilly are calling on the council to consider reviewing a decision to switch off thousands of street lights in early morning hours.

Caerphilly County Borough Council has already switched off 14,200 lights from midnight-5am, and a further 8,495 will follow by the end of this year.

This has generated more than 200 complaints from county borough residents, with concerns over safety.

However, Independent group councillor Kevin Etheridge, has put forward a motion signed by other Independent councillors and Caerphilly’s Plaid Cymru group, calling on the Labour-led council to review this decision.

The motion will be considered by the council’s environment and sustainability scrutiny committee.

Cllr Etheridge he hopes a public consultation can be undertaken. He said: “I have requested that council considers a review into the decision to switch off street lights following representations we have received from our residents.

“As team Caerphilly, I am sure my council colleagues will agree a review is necessary and support the public ”

Cllr Etheridge claims the switch-off decision is “based on historic consultation that is therefore likely to be currently unrepresentative of communities across the county”.

READ MORE:

Plaid Cymru group leader Cllr Colin Mann said he welcomes the Independent group’s support on a proposal his party has been highlighting as “folly” for more than a year.

“Labour has chosen to ignore petitions we started against the great switch-off signed by thousands of residents, and almost 200 individual complaints,” he said.

“But we hope they can now accept that it is a flawed policy.

“We are only too happy to support this notice of motion because we don’t believe those who live alone and older people should feel insecure and vulnerable in their own homes. This blackout also impacts negatively on those forced to walk to work for early morning shifts in complete darkness.”

Caerphilly’s Labour group were approached for comment but they deferred to what had previous been stated in the council’s budget meeting in February, where Plaid and the Independents were asked to come up with a funding solution.