Agenda and draft minutes

RESOLVED that Councillor S. Bashforth be elected Chair for the duration of the meeting.

The Panel is asked to elect a Vice Chair for the duration of the meeting.

RESOLVED that Councillor C. Gloster be elected Vice-Chair for the duration of the meeting.

There were no apologies for absence received.

There were no declarations of interest received.

There were no items of urgent business received.

RESOLVED that the Panel Procedure be agreed.

The Panel considered a report concerning a petition that had been received, requesting that consideration be given for the installation of streetlighting in the area to the rear of 154-200 Garforth Street, Busk, to tackle youth related anti-social behaviour. The report responded to the petition and a number of subsequent questions raised by residents. The provision of streetlighting in the area would go against the Council’s current practice to not light secondary routes or alleyways. A change in practice would require considerable capital investment and increase the Council’s energy costs. A precedent would be set if the streetlighting was installed, as other areas within the Borough of a similar nature would also require the lighting which would have a negative impact on the Council’s current street lighting provision.

The Lead Petitioner addressed the Panel, referring to the additional information he had provided at Item 8 on the agenda.

He provided further details to the petition in regard to the difficulties faced by residents on a daily basis. The Panel was informed that the alley was used as a front entrance for residents, and for those that lived on Brierley Walk, there was no other vehicular access to their properties other than via the alley. He informed the Panel that the issue had been first raised in 1991 and in the past 10 years, the crime rate in the area had increased by 60%. He stated that because the residents were on the border of Coldhurst and Chadderton North wards, they were also on the border of the areas covered by two different Police stations. An incident in 2017 resulted in 17 residents’ cars vandalised in one night for which the Police did not attend to the crime scene until after it was reported in a local newspaper.

The District Co-ordinator outlined the considerations that had been given to the introduction of streetlighting to the rear of Garforth Street. He indicated that questions asked by the petitioners and other local residents had been responded to in writing.

The Panel asked questions of the District Co-ordinator and the Lead Petitioner, and they were given the opportunity to ask questions of each other.

Both the District Co-ordinator and the Lead Petitioner were given the opportunity to sum up their case.

RESOLVED that the following recommendations be made to the relevant Executive Director:

1.    an indicative scheme with outline costs be prepared.

2.    a meeting to be convened comprising of the three Ward Councillors, Highways, Councillor Shah and Councillor S. Bashforth to discuss ways of funding the scheme.

RESOLVED that the additional information provided by the Petitioner be noted.