Utility operators are failing residents in Kelso, councillor claims

Euan Robson has called on the utility providers to urgently improve their performance which he currently rates as “dire”.

He also raised safety concerns over pavements which have been poorly repaired following works by the operators.

Councillor Robson said: “I got an assurance at November’s meeting of Scottish Borders Council that the need for improvement would be raised at future liaison meetings with the companies.

“Street lights in my ward have been either burning all day for weeks on end or lights have been out for a similar length of time because Scottish Power Energy Networks has not done the repairs.

“Whilst the former is a waste of electricity, the latter has safety implications in dark winter months.

“Scottish Power says they are short of contractors to do excavations so why do they not ask the council’s contracting arm SB Contracts to do the necessary work for them.

“Another energy supplier took almost ten months to change a gas meter in a house in Kelso, meaning that a registered social landlord couldn’t let the property during that long period. There were actually four broken appointments before the work was finished.

“Scottish Gas Networks also left traffic lights on the Teviot Bridge on the A699 even after the work on site had been completed.

“Is there no proper supervision of the contractors who set up and take down these traffic lights?

“It is time for the utility companies to get a grip and look after local communities as a priority.

“The irony of it all is people often think it is the council who are delaying the repairs, or have left the lights out and I’m afraid it isn’t, it’s predominantly these utility companies.”

Councillor Robson said there were lights on permanently in the village of Ednam, opposite the school at Broomlands and down by the fire station.

In response, a spokesperson for SP Energy Networks said: “Our teams are working hard to rectify faults affecting street lights and have carried out eight separate programmes of repair in the past fortnight.

“We have identified 12 street lighting faults across the Borders that require further attention and will have repair work completed in the coming weeks. We’re sorry for the inconvenience this has caused.”

In response to the issues raised with the Teviot Bridge traffic lights, a spokesperson for SGN: “We carried out work here to make a new connection to the gas network.

“This work required a road crossing under temporary traffic lights. After our engineering work was completed, the temporary traffic lights remained in place to ensure the safety of motorists whilst the newly reinstated road surface cured.

“The lights were then removed as soon as the road surface had set.”