Even a 1,500-strong petition was not enough to persuade Brighton & Hove’s Tory Council to install lights in St. Anne’s Wells Gardens, Hove.

St Ann’s Well Gardens, a well used local park, with regular events and a busy café, is also used as a cut through by people walking to work, home and school. There is strong support for paths to be better lit at night to make the park safer. It is also important that any new lighting be wildlife friendly, so as not to disturb the rare local wildlife, such as bats, that visit the park in the evening.

£10,000 is also ready and waiting to be used to install this eco-friendly lighting and came from the developer of 70 flats in Somerhill Avenue, as one of the conditions of receiving planning permission for the site next to the park. This money, known as section 106 funding, has already been allocated for park improvements.

However, at a recent Town Hall meeting, Tory Environment Cabinet Member, Cllr Geoffrey Theobald, refused to give any go-ahead or offer any assurances to the 1,500-strong community request.

Local people will be disappointed that the money they saw allocated in the park management plan, may now be used in for ‘maintenance,’ to get the park’s green flag back, which the council lost last year. Cllr Theobald is yet to make up his mind for definite whether such maintenance will include new lighting.

Hove Labour Councillor for Goldsmid Ward, Melanie Davis, said:

“I am furious with Tory Environment Spokesperson for ignoring a straight forward request from nearly 1,500 local people. So much for “Localism.”

“Residents felt very strongly about the need for lighting to improve the safety of the area and allow people to make use of the only open space in the vicinity. The request for eco-friendly lights was based on the desire to preserve the balance of remarkable wildlife that existed in the park.

“The petition was supported by both the Local Action Team and the local police and I had hoped the Tory Environment Cabinet Member too would give assurances that the funding set aside as part of the Section 106 Agreement, would be used to provide the lights requested. Instead he just dithered and I’m sure the local community will be very disappointed by this response.”