Lighting in County College has proved to be a major problem over the winter period, with some areas having insufficient or no lighting in place along footpaths.
Although the Spine and other areas of campus are relatively well lit, much of County has little or no lighting, and is in a location set away from the lighting of central campus.
County is a large college, and it is seen as essential for student safety, by County JCR in particular, to have the area well lit, particularly during winter when the daylight hours are short and there is a high risk of ice and snow. The responsibility for making sure students are safe in areas of campus falls to the college, and also the Department of Facilities at the University.
According to Matt Saint, County JCR President, “the problem has been brought up with the Director of Estates, Mark Swindlehurst on a number of occasions.”
Despite repeatedly informing the Facilities of the problem – including mentioning the problem directly to Swindlehurst at a talk he gave at this year’s Winter Officer Conference – it still seems that nothing has been done to make improvements to the current situation. Saint intends to bring the issue up at the next College and Residences meeting, as it is an important health and safety issue within the college.
