New lighting at last for residents on Raunds estate

Councillors have stepped in to provide new lighting for residents living on an estate in Raunds.

Residents of the Rowans Estate have been raising concerns regarding the steps leading from Willow Way to Thorpe Street for some time.

There was no lighting on the steps and people were worried about their safety at night.

Raunds Town Council tried to support residents in this and raised the issue with Northamptonshire Highways, East Northamptonshire Council and Persimmon Homes, the developer of the site.

But as none of the other parties had a legal obligation to put lighting in this area, Raunds Town Council decided to step in and fund the lighting directly.

The town council decided to use solar lighting, both for the ease of installation and as part of their green initiatives.

After lengthy discussions with Persimmon Homes and the management company for the area, the town council is pleased to say that the lighting has now been installed.

The lighting operates on a PIR so is only activated when it detects someone in the vicinity.

Cllr Lee Wilkes, who represents the town's Saxon ward, said: "It's great to be supporting local residents and ensuring that the town continues to reduce their carbon footprint.

"We will continue to look at other lighting schemes across the town as we monitor the success of the lighting here."

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper when you do your weekly shop.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you