KIRKLEES Council to turn off thousands of street lights to save money:

Chrisj: “According to the DFT a serious but not fatal accident in a built-up area costs an average of £196,000 – a fatality almost 10 times that.

“So one serious accident caused by switching off the street lighting would more than wipe out any potential saving. After years of dubious traffic calming schemes costing hundreds of thousands of pounds across Kirklees we have a backward step because of a dodgy green tax.

“Either the council which is quite keen to levy fines for parking offences and the installation of speed cameras is serious about road safety or it sees road safety simply as a revenue stream.

“I look forward to seeing Brake’s comments on the matter.”

santa: “When I was community leader in Fartown we built a new playground from a £200k lottery grant, fought for by local members of the community.

“One of the top things that came out in the public consultations was better lighting on a local footpath. This was supported by the crime prevention unit in a bid to reduce muggings along the footpath. The bright lights eliminated muggings, not just reduced them. If the council had any brains at all it would switch the lights off after 4am until dawn when the criminals had gone home to bed.’’

sepulchre: “In nearly all these places crime has fallen because the lights haven’t been on to allow criminals to see what they’re doing. So they’re saying the average burglar would not have a torch and other tools of the trade?”

Matthew1: “Job cuts should start with those who think turning off the street lights is a good idea.

“It may save thousands on the electricity bill, but the cost of crime will far outweigh that.

“Maybe we should strike and not pay council tax until the council is able to spend our money wisely and without a deficit at the end of the year.

HuddsM: “It’s said that ‘the white lights improve the look of the place as well as being cheaper than the orange lighting.’

“‘These new lights can save energy and brass.’ “But they have a lower luminous efficiency than the orange sodium ones.

“Try driving through thick fog and comparing the difference between these new ‘good looking’ white lights and the orange sodium lights.

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!