A freedom of information request by Bradford Green Party reveals huge differences in the time taken to repair faulty street lights across Bradford District.
The information showed that the average repair time from the start of 2015 to the end of 2017 for Shipley Ward was 15 days whilst in Tong Ward it was nearly a week longer at 23 days.
Looking at 2017 in isolation, the average across the whole of Bradford District was 12 calendar days. The repair time in Shipley Ward was below average at 10 days however in Tong it was 14 days.
The data for Tong Ward did not include all lights reported damaged on Rooley Lane and Wakefield Road as these two major routes required traffic management setting to do the repairs, which delays the process. This means in reality the average time in Tong Ward was probably higher still.
One street light on Wakefield Road took 111 days to be turned back on after being reported out in June.
Matt Edwards, Community campaigner for Tong Ward said: “When I have been speaking to people in Tong Ward one of the things that keeps coming up was the time it takes for street lights to be repaired.
“In early November, a gentleman told that he had reported a light damaged weeks before and it had not been fixed. It was not until late December that the unit was replaced. People are worried about their personal safety when they are outside their homes.
“Street lights are an important first line of defence against anti-social behaviour and make our roads safer. Especially in winter, some people rely on street lights to get about safely and it’s not good enough that some street lights are taking months to be replaced.”
“I would urge anyone with a smartphone to download the Bradford Council App. It is a great tool and on it you can report street lights out from your device.”
Councillor Hawarun Hussain added: “I am pleased that street lights in Shipley are being repaired faster than many places in our district, but it is still worrying to see the length of time it takes to repair some lights.
“It’s likely that Bradford residents will be asked to bear the brunt of a 5.99% Council Tax rise and they will want to see that basic services like street lights are being maintained properly.
“The real blame for this lies with Theresa May’s Government because our council have seen its budget slashed and it is now being faced with having to choose which vital services it funds. Bradford is facing £30.7 million of cuts by 2020, on top of further increases in Council tax.
“Nearly half of the Council’s budget is being spent on services like schools and social care meaning less is available for other important things like street lights.”