Waterford residents ‘scared to go out at night’ amid ‘dangerous’ council decision

Waterford people are scared to go out at night amid a “dangerous” energy-saving decision, a council meeting has heard.

Fianna Fáil councillor Jason Murphy spoke on the subject of LED lights at the December plenary meeting of Waterford City and County Council.

Cllr Murphy said: “I’ve had a lot of representation because I suppose we’re in the depths of winter now and it’s concerning the replacement of the old light-heads with LED lights.

“I appreciate this is an energy saving measure but there’s people saying it to me and I believe it myself, they don’t emit the same amount of light.”

“It’s brighter light but it’s not projecting as much I suppose as the old [lights].”

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He noted a number of accidents that have taken place in the city centre in recent weeks and questioned whether there might be a correlation between them and the new lights.

Cllr Murphy continued: “Does the council have any view on this because a number of residents associations have come to me saying that even though the lights are on, they’re now in effective darkness.

“They’re becoming dangerous to be quite honest. They might be energy saving but they’re dangerous.”

In response to Cllr Murphy, Director of Services Gabriel Hynes said that all the lights have been specifically designed to emit the correct amount of light.

Mr Hynes stated: “In some locations, the lighting may have been overdesigned. So in some cases, the lighting will reduce in areas but it’s in accordance with specifications.

“In other areas, we’re actually getting complaints that the intensity has increased.

“So there are going to be changes that will take getting used to but it’s very important to realise they have been designed for each location and they are in accordance with specifications.”

The sentiments of Cllr Murphy were shared by independent councillor Joe Kelly, who described the implementation of LED lights as a “failure”.

Cllr Kelly said: “On the public lighting that Cllr Murphy has raised, I think it’s a failure.

“It might be good for the environment but loads of people have told me they are now scared to go out and walk at night in the areas where these things have come in because in general, the lighting is too weak.

“We absolutely need to start upgrading the lighting, strengthening the power of these, otherwise the scheme is a complete waste of time and it’s costing hundreds of millions.”

Cllr Kelly received no response to his comments from the council executive.

Meanwhile, Sinn Féin councillor Joeanne Bailey raised the issue of broken lights across the city and county.

She stated: “My question is also around lighting services and I’m just wondering how long is the contract with that company?

“I’ve spoken to some of my colleagues in the county, Cllr O’Mahoney and Cllr Burke, they’re also having problems so it isn’t just a city that’s waiting for lights to be replaced or fixed.

“One of the estates in my area is waiting four months for lights to be put in.”

In response to Cllr Bailey, Mr Hynes said that the topic of the lighting contractor has been discussed a lot over the past year.

He said that the council has 17,000 public lights but only 3 per cent of them are not working, which is the equivalent of about 500 lights.

Mr Hynes continued: “In relation to the contract, the contract is due for renewal in the next 12 months.

“There aren't that many contractors out there in the country now and other local authorities are having similar problems to ourselves.

“As previously advised, we had an underground cabling system which was probably outdated, which we inherited from the ESB and that is giving us significant issues.

“It is something we are going to have to tackle once our current contract is over, with a funding request from the department.”

He also noted the general lack of electricians nationwide, which he says is delaying the provision of ESB services and the replacing of broken lights.

However, he reassured councillors that where there are lights out, the council will try to get to them as soon as possible.