By Alan Healy
A Derry woman whose house was plunged into darkness over 20 years ago has hit out after being told that there are no plans to install any street lights outside her home.
The street lights were removed from outside Anne Hutton’s home in the Greenwalk area of Creggan 22 years ago.
Speaking to the Derry News last week, Mrs Hutton said that her late mother had campaigned to have a street-lights installed outside their family home, which eventually resulted in their installation.
However, the lights were then removed.
The lampposts remain intact, but there are no lights on top of the poles.
Mrs Hutton has said that she doesn’t feel safe in her home, particularly in the winter, when her home is bathed in darkness from the early evening.
“It’s just pitch black out there, you can’t see anything,” she said.
“You’ll hear people out there but you can’t see them. I feel unsafe, especially in the winter and I now put a padlock on the gates.
“There’s six houses on this street and we haven’t go one street light between us.”
The Derry News contacted the Department for Infrastructure (DfI), which has responsibility for street lighting, to highlight Mrs Hutton’s concerns and ask whether there are plans for any street lighting in the Greenwalk area.
A spokesperson responded: “This street is not adopted by the Department and therefore there are no plans to install lighting.”
A street being adopted by the Department means that it will take over responsibility for its maintenance.
Speaking to the Derry News, Mrs Hutton said that the explanation ‘didn’t make any sense’, given that street lighting had been in place before.
Meanwhile, the independent councillor the area, Gary Donnelly, described the situation as a ‘farce’.
“This issue was first raised with me by residents of Greenwalk a number of years ago, who were frustrated that no one was willing to take responsibility for this,” he said.
“You have a situation here where there are actually lampposts on the street but no one is willing to take responsibility to put a light on top of them.
“It’s a farce, and it means that these residents, some of whom are vulnerable, have to go on living in darkness.”
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