Safety concerns over dark public steps in Cheltenham
Planning permission was given on the condition lights were installed, but didn't specify that they're actually switched on
Concerns have been raised that lights which were installed to illuminate a set of public steps in Cheltenham are not switched on – because the planning condition “does not require it”.
The steps which link Lower High Street to the Honeybourne Line are currently unlit at night causing residents who walk up and down them to feel unsafe.
The steps were built following a planning application made in 2017 to demolish and redevelop 453 High Street.
The project consisted of the construction of three houses and four flats and new steps to provide pedestrian access to the Honeybourne line.
And the proposals included a condition that stated the building would not be occupied until details of external lighting to serve the new pedestrian access to the Honeybourne Line were submitted to Cheltenham Borough Council.
However, while this condition required the lights to be installed, it does not seem planning officers felt they needed to specify the lights would need to be turned on at night.
The development has long since been built and the Borough Council who required the lights be installed seem unable to take any action.
Councillor David Willingham (LD, St Peters), who raised the issue at a recent meeting, said: “I have had complaints from constituents who feel these steps are dangerous at night due to the lighting not being turned on.
“I followed this up with planning enforcement, but they seem to be of the opinion that since the lights are present there is nothing they can do,” he said.
“In my opinion, it is pointless requiring lights to be installed if they are not going to be turned on, and the common-sense approach would be to take action to require the building owner to illuminate them at night, as that was clearly the intention of the condition.
“The risk of financial liability to the building owner if someone trips and injures themselves due to the lack of lighting, seems to outweigh any cost savings from not turning these lights on.”
Cllr Willingham raised the problem at the last overview and scrutiny committee meeting which discussed the Borough Council’s approach to planning enforcement.
He said the lights are a particular bugbear of his that has not yet been sorted.
“The lights are there but there’s no condition to turn them on at night,” he said.
“You have a situation where we’ve required someone to install and haven’t required them to turn them on.
“We should have gone after that for non-compliance and we shouldn’t have signed it off. It’s pretty obvious that lights are there to be lit at night and if they are not that does seem like something that should be enforced.”
The new steps are currently partially lit at the bottom by street lighting from the High Street and at the top by lighting on the Honeybourne Line, the council says.
In 2018 there was an enforcement investigation which was closed as it was found that the council had no power to take any further action.
A council spokesperson said: “We appreciate that it is disappointing that these lights are not being used. However as they are privately owned, belonging to the owners of the houses and flats, there is no breach of planning control.
“This means that we are unable to take enforcement action. We will be working with the county council to see whether another solution can be found.”