Are the lights going out across Tameside?

By Steve Starlord

 

Does anyone out there know where I can buy a Coal Miner's head-lamp? Or perhaps a 'Holman Hunt' lamp for Christmas? It is pretty isn't it? It's a detail from the famous painting by Holman Hunt - The Light of the World! I thought about buying a powerful torch, but that would be difficult to hold while carrying bags of heavy shopping and my 'Death to the Work Programme' placard, while traipsin the streets of Tameside in semi-darkness.

 

Every week Tameside Unemployed Workers Alliance help to shine a light on the injustices taking place at Ashton Jobcentre. All the while Tameside Council willingly help to snuff-out what little light remains in the area, presumably to save money. Methinks they've got their priorities all wrong.

 

One full year has passed by since I last wrote to Tameside Council about street lamp outages, the majority of which have gone un-repaired. Now why is that? I begin to suspect the Council of operating a deliberate policy of leaving street lamps out when they fail, and of turning some off when perfectly fine.

 

It would be interesting to hear what the Council have to say about this. I could be forgiven for thinking my last email had been ignored, but for the fact that several street lamps were quickly repaired, while yet others, were more slowly repaired, and many others left permanently out. I assume the Council did these repairs because I'd told them? I was, however, otherwise ignored, for all my questions went unanswered. Shame on you Tameside Council!