Frustration over lack of progress with new lamposts for Bridge

New dark blue lampposts, similar to those which might be found in seafront towns in the UK, had been decided on, but have not yet been installed because of the cost and uncertainty over plans for Leale’s Yard.

Vale senior constable Richard Leale said the halt in progress was not due to lack of trying.

‘It’s disappointing and frustrating,’ he said.

‘We have been in discussion with Guernsey Electricity for some time over lampposts.

'They wanted us to pay a quarter of a million pounds to put new lampposts up from the clock tower to the GE building, which is ridiculous.’

Mr Leale said the Bridge was poorly lit and many of the current lampposts needed replacing.

He thought the parish should pay the difference in cost between the two types of lamppost, instead of covering the whole sum.

‘The zebra crossing is dangerous in some respects because it is so poorly lit.

‘The parishes pay for the lampposts and electricity – it’s a lot of money – but don’t appear to have any say if lampposts should be replaced or not or where they could go.’

Bridge Christmas lights organiser Martin Search had lots of ideas for the Bridge and said the parish wanted to enhance the area.

‘There’s been no progress whatsoever,’ he said.

‘They don’t seem to want to do anything on the Bridge until Leale’s Yard is sorted out.’

Debate about the future of Leale’s Yard has been ongoing for years, but no decision has been made.

‘All the road’s furniture is in a really sorry state – it’s very frustrating and we just need this pushed forward,’ Mr Search added.

Flowers, bunting, and lights had been suggested but nothing had been done, firstly due to the possibility of the road layout being changed, and also because of initial worries about flood defences halting the installation of flower containers.

‘The plans have been done and everything – it’s all there,’ Mr Leale said.

‘It’s little things which just make it look that much better.’

GE head of distribution Mike Lloyd said the company was responsible for the maintenance of existing street lighting, but the additional capital cost of this scheme would need to be covered by the relevant parishes.

‘GE is currently working to support the parish’s request for a new style of street lighting on the Bridge,’ he said.

‘This project has involved establishing the costs of these types of upgrades, factoring in any lights that would be due for replacement of which there is just one.

‘Due to the nature of the work which includes additional cable laying, there is a significant extra cost for installing these designs.’