No lights on Ha'Penny Hatch for past three months (Lewisham side)

While on Deptford High Street there is a shortage of Christmas lights, at the Ha'Penny Hatch where Lewisham meets Greenwich over Deptford Creek, there have been NO LIGHTS AT ALL since the beginning of October (or is it longer?).

The picture above is from 9th November. There's no change. Fortunately, as far as we know, with darkness descending at 4pm or sooner, the only remotely bad thing that has happened is graffiti artists having a party or two (and leaving all their litter, which is also never cleared up). But it's almost three months since this path has been lit.

Usually this is the sort of thing you could post to Love Lewisham, but it is not so simple. Firstly this path has no postcode – so they can't find it and you can't use their interactive map to report it. More importantly, neither can the police if something awful happens here in the darkness.

Secondly, you have to report the number of the nearest lamppost that has a number written on it (back on Crossfields) because none of the lampposts on the path have numbers. We would normally have been reported it ourselves, but we have been waiting to see how long it takes for someone else to do it for a change – or to see if Lewisham notice it themselves!

It's a very important path since it forms part of the GLA's Cycle Quietways. In fact TWO so-called Quietways are offered at the Creekside end of the route across the Ha'Penny Hatch (one of which is through Crossfields – the maintenance of some of the path has been paid for by the leaseholders who were never even consulted). Strangely, that path is the responsibility of Greenwich Council even though it's in Lewishame, and roadworks to accommodate it across Deptford Church St are still being carried out by Greenwich, months after the work was started. Lewisham Homes wasn't even told about it. (Not that them knowing now makes any difference since they would hardly tell us).

However, cyclists using the Ha'Penny Hatch usually have their own lights. Pedestrians do not.

(This story was originally posted as part of the previous post).

Ha'Penny Hatch lighting

Lots of folk crossed the Ha'Penny Hatch last night in pitch black darkness on their way to Blackheath fireworks. With the moon hidden in cloud and not one of the seven lamps working on the Lewisham side of the pedestrian path leading to the bridge, it was a spooky, if not potentially dangerous, experience.

Street lights are usually numbered so that faults can easily be reported on Lewisham's webpage where you should also be able to track the fault. There are, however, emergency situations in which you can call the Croydon & Lewisham Street Lighting service on 0800 028 5986.

"Three or more adjacent street lights unlit" constitutes an emergency, as does "damaged apparatus posing a risk to the public". So we've called them, got a log number, and look forward to the situation being remedied as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, none of the lamps are numbered and there's no postcode for the Ha'Penny Hatch, so the online reporting form is somewhat useless. Nor is the river crossing marked on most maps by name. This has resulted in the police being unable to locate it when responding to reports of crimes being committed there. We hope the Street Lighting team can find it.

Regular users of the path will know that many of the lamps on Ha'Penny Hatch are often unlit or broken on either side of the bridge. You can report faulty lights on the Greenwich side of the bridge (where the lamps are also unnumbered) here (or call 020 8854 8888 in an 'emergency'). Next time, instead of moaning about it and avoiding using the path, try getting in touch with either of the councils responsible instead of waiting for someone else to do it. This applies especially to the person who just told us there is now also a light out on the Greenwich side.

UPDATE Wednesday 7th November: 
We're pleased to report the lights on the Lewisham side have been fixed!