The Govanhill branch of Living Rent are calling on Glasgow City Council to the fix the 40 broken streetlights in the neighbourhood to make the area a safer place at night.

The Govanhill branch of Scotland’s tenants union carried out an action on the evening of the 23 November to highlight the problem of broken street lights around the area

A number of volunteers took to the streets of the local area to launch Living Rent’s ‘Light Up Govanhill’. The protestors are calling for the local council to fix the over 40 broken streetlights that the community organisation have identified.

Govanhill streetlights were already an issue in February 2021, when it was reported that several of the new LED lighting lights were erected in inappropriate locations.

Now, almost 40 streetlights have been reported as broken, leaving certain parts of the Govanhill area dark at a time of year when they are essential to help residents navigate the neighbourhood safely.

Beatrice Onashile | Portrait by Virginie Chabrol. All rights reserved.

Beatrice Onashile, Co-Chair of the Govanhill branch said: “At Living Rent, we are committed to finding solutions to any issues which impact negatively on our members/communities: via petitions and direct actions. Members voted to have this issue dealt with in the area because it is both important for them to improve their neighbourhood and because they have to take matters into their own hands.

In Govanhill, residents feel unsafe to move around their neighbourhood confidently when it's dark due to broken street lights which are not repaired because of the negligence and incompetency of the City Council.”

Read more: Beatrice Onashile on a Mission to Keep Her Street Clean

With the amount of daylight getting shorter everyday, broken street lights make streets feel unsafe for people for the majority of the day.

Residents have expressed concerns regarding broken street lights, and budget cuts by Glasgow City Council have caused basic facilities to fall into long-term decline. The lack of proper upkeep on other council issues such as potholes and fly-tipping make the poorly-lit streets a safety hazard for many, especially those with physical disabilities.

The volunteers played a game of ‘treasure hunt’ and went round the local area identifying broken street lamps. They placed stickers on all these broken streetlights and reported them en masse to the council. This followed days of busily phonebanking and doorknocking to build support for the campaign.

They will also follow up with the Executive Director of Neighbourhoods, Regeneration and Sustainability, George Gillespie, to ensure the council takes the necessary steps to get them fixed afterwards and are also calling on the council to set-out a timeframe for this plan of action.

In recent weeks, there has also been a public consultation on installing streetlight in Queens Park, making the safe space available for everyone during these winter months.

Sign the petition to call for street lights to be fixed here.

Interested in the work that Living Rent does? You can follow them on Instagram to keep up with their activism. This include campaigning against the current proposals for the redevelopment of Shawlands Arcade as well as campaigning on behalf of tenants who are experiencing problems with their landlords during the cost-of-living crisis.