Oxford City Councillor: male report authors' attitude for women’s safety is ‘woeful’
Oxfordshire County Council’s plan to turn off 60,000 street lights between 11pm and 6:30am in an attempt to reduce artificial night time light has come under attack from City Councillor.
The proposal is estimated to save £400,000 per year. However, the council have suggested the introduction of the proposal has nothing to do with saving money.
The scheme has now been delayed after public pushback due to safety concerns. With only a weeks’ notice, many feel that the council has not thoroughly thought through this proposal and the safety concerns it may propose to women.
Leader of Oxford City council, Susan Brown took to Twitter to share her thoughts on the proposal. In her tweet Susan said how this was a shocking proposal and that she is horrified that one man can make a decision that puts women in danger across the city and county without even consulting the public.
When contacted for comment on the proposal, Susan said:
‘We welcomed the U-turn which we assume was because of the outrage expressed by us and many other groups across the city and county but are concerned that while they have now conceded the need to consult they don't seem to have rowed back from the proposal.’
She concluded with the emphasis that the report authors and councillor Pete Sudbury are all male and condemned their attitudes towards women.
‘We were appalled at the intention to not consult at all on these dangerous proposals and also the Equalities Impact Assessment that extraordinarily claimed that there were no equalities impacts from this proposal because all groups would be impacted equally. I note that the report authors and Green County Councillor Pete Sudbury are all male. This attitude to women and girls' safety is woeful.’
A petition was started by Oxfordshire Labour, who feel the proposal is unacceptable. The petition currently has 1576 signatures. In their statement responding to the proposal, they reference the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, who state an approximate of 40% of all vehicle collisions occur at night time.
Leader of Oxfordshire County Council Labour group Liz Brighouse suggests the proposal will affect vulnerable people who work in the unsocial hours of the morning. She urges the council to consider those who work in the ‘NHS, Hospitality, retail, carers, cyclists and pedestrians.’