Richard's Good News Story of the Week concerns fixing a street light that was faulty for years.
"Ms B from Basildon got in touch with me late last year to report an issue she’s been complaining to the council about for some time, near her home, which was making her feel less safe and less likely to go out, especially now it’s winter.
She explained that some streetlights had been out for some time and highlighted the dangers that people can fear when this is the case. One of the biggest things to reduce crime is, in fact, street lighting. We all know how it feels to turn a corner and see how dark a street is and really have second thoughts about walking down there.
Ms B told me the light has been out for years and she’s gotten absolutely nowhere with Council contact forms.
Right away, I got in touch with the Council to report this and they explained that, like many faulty streetlights across the area, the issue was with the power supply rather than the lamp itself. This means it’s not actually their inaction, they’d been passing on the details but UK Power Networks (UKPN) hadn’t fixed it.
UKPN, whilst they also manage some very serious problems like major power outages across the country, are usually very good when it comes to quick fixes like lights when they are fully aware of the problem.
I’m very pleased to report that, after the lights being out for many years, they’re now back up and making the area feel a bit more safer when it’s dark.
There’s plenty of these issues across Basildon And Billericay where sometimes it’s just that nudge to get it moving again that’s required. So, if you know of any issue like this, or you have a totally different one you’d still like some help with, then please fill in my contact form and a member of the team will be in touch: www.richardholden.org.uk/contact
We can’t fix everything but we’ll damn sure give it a go!"
