'Don't leave us in dark' say residents waiting for new lights

For more than nine months the majority of lights on Whirley Road, Macclesfield, have been out of order after the council started replacing them in August 2013.

Residents claim the new lights that were put in still remain unlit, while the old ones are yet to be removed - and all but five of them are switched off.

Richard Slater lives on Whirley Road. He said: “It’s been going on for three quarters of a year, which is not right.

“The lights are still not fixed and the council have left a big hole by the school crossing, which they dug in January, making it dangerous for the children and parents to cross. They are no further on with the work now than they were in August last year.”

Richard says residents on the street have contacted the council numerous times to complain about the problem.

But a spokesperson for Cheshire East Council said the delays are not its fault.

A council spokesman said: “The council would like to apologise to residents for any inconvenience caused by these works and the length of time it is taking.

“However, the delays are beyond our control.

“The column replacement works are being held up by the utility company, Electricity North West (ENW).

“They need to transfer the service from the old column into the new ones.

“ENW has indicated this is a complex situation to resolve and, so far, they have not managed to come up with a suitable solution.

“As the statutory provider, the work on the electricity cables must be carried out by ENW and council officers have been trying to get the company to resolve this issue as quickly as possible.”

A spokesperson for Electricity North West said: “We received notification from Cheshire East Council to replace street light columns on Whirley Road in Macclesfield on February 18.

“When our engineers arrived on site they discovered non-standard cables which unfortunately delayed the project.

“We now have a process in place which will allow our engineers to work on replacing the street light columns safely. We would like to assure residence that all street lighting columns will be replaced as soon as possible.”