#LightTheWay: Pressure mounts as running group joins campaign

Pressure's mounting on Glasgow City Council to light up the city's parks.

Bellahouston Roadrunners are the latest group to join our Light The Way campaign, calling for safety lighting to be installed.

They join a list of organisations and politicians who are supporting ours calls for low-level lighting in parks across the city.

Chi My Ta from the group said: "It's a sad thing to say that I wouldn't feel safe as a woman to go out and run by myself. That's one of the reasons why we are absolutely keen for parks to have lighting. It works. In Glasgow Green in works and what we want to see is other parks around the city to have that same facility.

"It makes it very difficult to use the parks and train in the parks in a safe way - we've actually had members fall over on poorly lit paths and that's resulted in injury and of course it's not just for us, it's for everybody to use.

"The pandemic has absolutely shone a light on how important parks are as a space for people to exercise safely and to be outdoors and to improve their physical and mental wellbeing."

Danny Phillips from the group added: "We were training last night at Bellahouston Park but we ran round the outside of the park because it was lit up and when you look inside, there's no one there."

Since we launched our campaign four days ago the local authority now says it's actively looking at the issue.

A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said: “Ensuring personal safety in public spaces is an absolute priority for the council.

“We want people to feel secure and safe when moving around the city and we are aware this can be a particular issue for women, LGBTQ+ communities and those from black and ethnic minority backgrounds.

“Our draft active travel strategy also has a clear focus on providing safe routes throughout the city for walking, wheeling and cycling at all times of the day, all year round.

“We also have a responsibility to protect and promote the city’s biodiversity and ensure that our open spaces provide suitable habitats for wildlife. It is crucial that we fully understand the potential for unintended consequences by changing lighting patterns in these natural spaces.

“But we are fully aware of the concerns being expressed on safety in parks at night. Lighting up parks is undoubtedly technically possible and we are actively looking at the experience of other places as well as relevant academic research.

“This is a complex issue with a number of competing priorities and careful consideration of possible measures must be undertaken to understand properly the potential impact on the city’s flora and fauna, but also whether any changes will create a safer environment for people to use.”

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