SCANT regard is being paid to residents' complaints as the council forges ahead with its street light replacement programme in Upper Norwood, it is claimed.
The attack has come from Labour councillor Wayne Lawlor, who is supporting objections to the replacement of lights in Mowbray Road and Fox Hill Gardens.
Residents are upset that ornate lampposts which they say are in character with Edwardian and Victorian houses in the roads are being replaced by standard modern lights, which are not.
They argue that the new lights should have been designed to fit in with the history of the area.
Fox Hill Gardens is within a conservation area but has not been awarded the separate street light conservation status requested by people living in the road.
One resident, Alexis Bleasdale, said: "I would like to know why we were not considered for having replacement ornate lights."
In an e-mail to Cllr Lawlor, Steve Iles, the council's head of highway and public services, said that ornate lights were not being installed because the existing lights were not considered to be an historic asset to the area.
But in his reply, Cllr Lawlor says: "It would seem that residents and local councillors' views do not count for anything at all.
"Croydon Council needs to get back to the basics and start serving this area and residents, not imposing unwanted change just because a contractor has tied this council up in financial knots.
"Croydon Council is not here to be served by residents but to serve residents. That ethos seems to be missing in this policy."
