RESIDENTS on Beaumont Road will no longer be receiving ‘heritage’ street lamps despite being written to by a local councillor before the recent election telling them that funding was in place and that the majority had agreed to them.
Late last year former councillor Nigel Dawkins asked Beaumont Road residents whether they wanted to install the same period-style lighting that roads within the Bournville’s conservation were receiving. Most streets in Birmingham are gradually having their old street lights replaced by new, energy-efficient LED lights.
Ahead of the May election he wrote to residents telling them that their wish to have the period lights would go ahead.
However, after an enquiry by bournvillevillage.com, local councillor Tim Huxtable (Conservative), told us that although the necessary funding had previously been identified it is unlikely to available under the new Labour-controlled council.
The design originally suggested for Beaumont Road’s new lights.
He said: “As you know, Cllrs. Dawkins, Sealey and I wanted to install period lighting in all residential roads within Conservation areas and in some roads adjacent to Conservation areas (eg Beaumont Road) and this was supported by the majority of residents of Beaumont Road. We had identified the necessary funding, the works for Conservation areas coming from the Highways Improvement Budget 11/12 and the Local Improvement Budget 11/12 and the works for non-Conservation areas from Ward funding in 12/13.
“Cllr Sealey and I have recently been informed that there may be a severe in year reduction of Ward funds as a result of change of political control. We have also been informed there will be no more Local Improvement Budget in future years. This means there may no longer be the funding for period lighting along Beaumont Road (and all other non-Conservation area roads).”
He added that the lighting for Beaumont Road should have been complete by May 2012 and that given the uncertainty of funding: “financial prudence demands that only standard LED lights (at no additional cost to the Ward) can be installed.”
The heritage lamps have been installed on the Village Green and on Beech Road. The installation of the lights on residential roads in both the Bournville Village and Bournville Tenants Conservation areas will go ahead as planned.
Conservative councillors may well want period lighting, but since they have left the new Labour administration with a £21 million budget black hole, this might prove difficult. http://birminghamnewsroom.com/2012/07/council-faces-budget-%E2%80%98black-hole%E2%80%99/
Perhaps they shouldn’t have approved funding for things they couldn’t actually afford to try and win votes at the local election – which they lost anyway!
Quite right SAS!
Political parties leaving large budget black holes? Luckily this never happens at a national level…
Can’t we just leave the street lamps on Beaumont Rd as they are? Do we have to have the intrusive 30′ high LED ones? They look ok on a main road, but not a residential side street.
Let’s save the cash towards something more important.
‘There’s no money left’ as Liam Byrne wrote…
Nice to see the new labour councillor failing to fight for the people he’s supposed to represent.
How much difference can one or two extra roads make? This was promised twice. We were only told that this is not now happening today – 10 days before the ‘standard’ street lighting is due to be installed.
I agree with the previous comment it would be better to keep the lights as they are rather than having my bedroom lit up like a football stadium at night.
What a shambles!