Reporting Street Lighting Faults
Residents can report a fault with a street light, or any other item of council owned street furniture, such as a bollard or road sign, with the Street Equipment Fault Reporting form.
Repair Times
Wigan Council's street lighting team reduced repair times for faulty lights from 10 days in 2000 to just 2.2 days in 2005.
A recent survey of the council’s street lighting stock shows 99.34% of almost 40,000 illuminated signs and lights around the borough in full working order. Nine out of 10 residents say this makes them feel safer in their neighbourhoods and out on the roads as well.
The team have driven down response times or fault repairs, at no extra cost to the council taxpayer. This also applies to the work done in partnership with external bodies and with outside firms like United Utilities.
The council has introduced new technology, such as a tele-management system for the A580 East Lancashire Road. This allows the lights to communicate with each other and remotely report back to street lighting engineers. It is one example of borough-wide investment to improve safety and security for all road users - drivers, pedestrians, locals and visitors.
With an eye to the future, the street lighting team has introduced energy saving technology to the illuminated bollards seen on the streets. A photocell controls them, saving power, reducing costs and meaning they need fewer services. For several years, electricity for all the borough’s lighting has come from fully sustainable wind-power sources.
Public consultation is a major factor for council services and the street lighting team engage with residents in the design of many schemes and in post-scheme consultations. These include Pemberton local centre and the main shopping streets in Tyldesley, where locals have been closely involved in the design and selection process for new lighting.
Surveys following the installation of lighting schemes show that the majority of residents express satisfaction with the team. In particular, there is strong support for innovations such as modern white lighting, which aids facial recognition in the dark and on CCTV. The team has been recognised both locally and in tough national evaluations, ranging from the Hag Fold Community Committee to the Local Government News Street Design Awards. For a scheme in Hindley Green in late 2006 to install clear white lighting, a hundred per cent of the people who responded to the consultation said they were happy with the visual impact the new lights have made on their neighbourhood.
Although more than 99% of the borough's lights are always lit and working, there are a still a great many needing attention and the council appreciates the public's help with its monitoring.
