£1m spent on street lighting in Barking and Dagenham last year
The council's contract with an external contractor stipulates 97 per cent of lamp posts must be operational at all times to ensure public pathways are not left in the dark. Picture: Jack Shaw - Credit: Archant
The Student View is a charity that teaches young people from The Warren School and Dagenham Park CoE School how to spot misinformation and write real news stories about Barking and Dagenham to encourage them to engage with their communities. This is one of their stories. By Ayensur and Shannon
Barking and Dagenham Council spent £1.022m on street lights last year. Most of the money is spent on energy, with £371,000 spent on maintenance and other costs.
The contract with an external contractor, Volker Highways, includes a stipulation that the company must keep 97per cent of lamp posts operational at all times to ensure public pathways are not left in the dark.
No more than 300 lights have been out at a time for the past five years and the maintenance company repairs roughly 300 to 350 lamp posts every year.
Cllr Cameron Geddes, cabinet member for regeneration and social housing, said: “Street lighting has a key role to play in making people feel safe after dark.
“The council has been renewing many of its street lights to ensure that they are less likely to fail and in order to make them more environmentally friendly.”
He added that concerned residents can report a broken street light on the council’s My Account page on its website by giving the reference number and location.
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The findings were sourced by media literacy charity The Student View in a Freedom of Information request submitted to Barking and Dagenham Borough Council.
