Bassetlaw District Council has installed a series of new lighting columns in the Memorial Gardens, Worksop to improve the safety of people walking through the park during hours of darkness.
A total of five new lights, paid for by national Safer Streets funding secured by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Nottinghamshire, have been set up along the pathway behind the Aurora Centre that links Worksop Library with The Canch.
The Council will also upgrade several existing lights in the Memorial Gardens, The Canch, and along Church Walk (between Bridge Place and the Memorial Gardens), a popular route between the town centre and residential areas in the south of Worksop.
Additional lights will be installed on Chapel Walk to help improve the safety of people using these routes, particularly women and girls.
Cllr Julie Leigh, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods at the Council said:
“This is the latest in a series of measures we are proud to introduce to make Worksop’s streets safer, especially for women and girls.
“We hope that improved and additional lighting along popular routes in and out of the town centre will boost confidence and the feeling of safety for people using them. Increased visibility will also act as a deterrent to crime and anti-social behaviour.
“Using Safer Streets funding, this project adds to the measures we have already put in place including Refuge Point safety cameras, Safer Streets Wardens and the upgrading of CCTV.
This latest initiative has been introduced after the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Nottinghamshire secured £3 million of Safer Streets funding from the Home Office in July for projects across the county that will help tackle neighbourhood crime and anti-social behaviour, as well as violence against women and girls.
Worksop is benefitting from a share of £750,000 of this latest round of money, which has also paid for Safer Streets Wardens in the Town Centre and training for staff in licensed premises to help tackle violence against women and girls.
Caroline Henry, Police and Crime Commissioner for Nottinghamshire, said: “These new lights will not only increase safety but also people’s feelings of safety, which is just as important.
“By making this area lighter and brighter it will give people confidence that they are safe in public spaces. Combined with CCTV and the increased uniformed presence of Safer Streets wardens, this all adds to a real boost in security for people, especially women and girls.”
In addition to supplying extra lighting, the Council will be installing a new Refuge Point safety camera in the Canch giving people in distress direct communication with the CCTV control room at the touch of a button.
The refuge point will be an addition to a number of the columns that are already operational, located throughout Bassetlaw and were installed as part of a previous round of Safer Streets Funding.
