Wiltshire Council – keeping Marlborough residents in the dark – UPDATE

The story below ran on Wednesday (26 November) following several complaints about the (lack of) lighting in the High Street. Sure enough, hardly any streetlights were working – see the pics. But Wiltshire Council now believes that the problem has been resolved. Earlier today one complainant received the e-mail below from the Council, informing that ‘We have closed your case because the work has been completed‘.

But for those of us that have been to the High Street this evening – any difference to how it was on Wednesday? No. The same lights aren’t operational, it’s just as dark as it was then.

So does this mean that Wiltshire are going to stop lighting the High Street. Is this the ‘new normal’? Lights not working, but complaint ‘closed’? We haven’t had the opportunity to question Wiltshire Council – yet – but could this be another demonstration of the Council’s attitude towards Marlborough? Or maybe, they just aren’t very good at fixing defective streetlights.

A bit cruel this headline you may say, but true. Many of the streetlights in the High Street haven’t been working, some for several weeks. This has been reported to Wiltshire Council – who are responsible for ensuring that they are working – but each time the response has been: ‘further work required, this may take a few weeks’.

Well a few weeks have now passed, elderly pedestrians have been stumbling in some of the darker unlit areas of the High Street and those walking along are reliant on the car headlights and the illuminated displays in many of the shop windows. And with the ambient lighting of the streetlights not there, those displays can be quite blinding, especially so for some elderly walkers. A different but related problem.

A few lights are still working but they are very much in the minority. What is the problem? The number out indicates that there is some systematic issue regarding Marlborough’s High Street lighting whereas normally it’s the odd bulb popping which gets fixed quickly.

So down to you, Wiltshire……. Shed a bit more light on Marlborough’s beautiful High Street.

But as from this Friday lighting won’t be so much of a problem as the Town Council will ensure that the High Street is bathed in light again. Not by the normal streetlights but from the blue and white Christmas lights which are due to be turned on again this Friday. At least through December and into January we’ll all be able to see where we are going on the High Street, so no excuses then for anyone ending up in the Green Dragon for a Christmas drink by mistake when aiming for The Royal Oak…..