{"id":354418,"date":"2026-01-06T02:43:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T02:43:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/354418\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T02:43:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T02:43:12","slug":"reform-led-council-under-fire-for-plans-to-rip-up-victorian-lampposts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/354418\/","title":{"rendered":"Reform-led council under fire for plans to rip up Victorian lampposts"},"content":{"rendered":"

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One of the UK\u2019s most complete collections of cast-iron street lamp posts<\/a> are at risk of being \u201cchucked\u201d and replaced with \u201cbanal and ugly\u201d alternatives, campaigners are warning.<\/p>\n

There are approximately 270 historic lampposts in Canterbury<\/a>\u2019s collection, many of which were cast in a foundry in the city, which are at risk of being replaced with generic steel poles fitted with standardised \u201cheritage-style\u201d embellishments. <\/p>\n

Canterbury is one of the only remaining places<\/a>, alongside the City of Westminster and Edinburgh, which has managed to retain a full set of bespoke nineteenth century cast iron street lampposts. <\/p>\n

Ptolemy Dean, the president of the Canterbury Society and the surveyor of the Fabric of Westminster Abbey, has been raising awareness for a campaign to retain the lampposts. <\/p>\n

He told The Independent<\/a> that Kent County Council<\/a>, were planning on replacing the \u201cvery attractive\u201d lampposts with \u201ca standard off-the-peg steel post\u201d that you might find on a motorway or industrial estate and removing the originals to \u201cchuck them in the bin.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

The lampposts are set to be replaced with more modern facets (The Canterbury Society and Alliance of Canterbury Residents Associations)<\/p>\n

\u201cVisually it\u2019s a really eroding thing in the cityscape,\u201d he said. \u201cYou walk through the streets of Spain and Italy, Paris and places, and you see beautifully paved streets, you see lovely elegant street lights and you see beautiful buildings. In Canterbury, you should be doing the same. You should be seeing beautiful […]medieval streets, beautiful buildings, and beautiful street lights. To create a whole picture, when you take something like a streetlight and replace it with something truly banal and ugly and nondescript, it detracts from the quality of all the buildings that surround it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said that Canterbury, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site<\/a>, should be \u201clooked after\u201d. <\/p>\n

Campaigns have taken place across the country against the removal of these historic lampposts, from Berkshire to Aberdeen. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s synonymous with a problem that is right at the very heart of everything that’s going on in the local environment at the moment, which is that no one can maintain anything, no one will, every, the budget for cutting is maintenance, and therefore you’re left with replacement as the solution,\u201d Mr Dean added. \u201cIt’s really, catching up on us now.<\/p>\n

\u201cYears of, years of austerity and the Canterbury thing is the latest in this story.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

The nineteenth century lamp posts need painting (The Canterbury Society and Alliance of Canterbury Residents Associations)<\/p>\n

Guy Mayhew, the campaign coordinator and co-chair of the Canterbury Society, told The Independent: \u201cThese columns are part of the city\u2019s everyday historic fabric, not decorative extras. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat our work has shown is that their gradual removal has not been driven by a clear heritage strategy or by evidence of widespread structural failure. Instead, decisions have drifted for years between Kent County Council, which maintains street lighting, and Canterbury City Council, which is responsible for conservation and the public realm. <\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cIn the absence of an agreed design code or replacement policy, temporary and generic solutions have become the default. This is not primarily a funding issue. Repainting and refurbishment are relatively low-cost, and replica or like-for-like solutions have been explored before. The real problem has been a lack of coordination, clarity, and timely decision-making.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than 750 Canterbury residents have signed a petition expressing concern at the loss of the historic columns, Mr Mayhew said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPublic concern has grown as more historic columns have been lost or replaced with standard steel alternatives, which is why the campaign has attracted significant support locally. What we are asking for is simple: a clear, agreed approach that treats historic street furniture as an asset to be managed properly, rather than something to be quietly downgraded.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson from Kent County Council (KCC) said: \u201cThese are proposed works which have not yet started. We have been working closely with Canterbury City Council to find a solution and move this work forward. The Canterbury Society has not contacted us to discuss these plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand the historic significance of the Biggleston lampposts in Canterbury and the affection residents have for them. However, recent safety inspections have revealed serious structural issues which mean the lampposts can no longer be considered safe.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cast iron columns have failed structural tests carried out at the base of the column, confirming internal corrosion and other defects. Painting the columns would only protect the part above ground and does not address the damage inside or underground.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe original factory that produced these lampposts has closed, and the moulds used to make them no longer exist. <\/p>\n

\u201cRecreating these moulds and manufacturing new cast iron lampposts, or refurbishing the existing lampposts would not be the most effective use of limited maintenance budgets, given other higher-priority needs.\u2018It is anticipated that creating a bespoke mould alone would cost tens of thousands of pounds, and each new cast iron column could cost in excess of \u00a35,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy comparison, installing a modern steel lamppost costs about \u00a3168, and adding a heritage-style decorative kit brings the total to around \u00a3810 per lamppost. These kits are made from durable, non-metal materials, which makes future safety checks easier, safer, and more cost-effective.<\/p>\n

\u201cImportantly, the existing ornate lanterns will be re-used to maintain the character of Canterbury\u2019s streets.\u2018While we appreciate the historic value of the Biggleston lampposts, public safety must come first. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur approach ensures that Canterbury retains a heritage look while meeting modern safety standards and managing costs responsibly.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":354419,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-354418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354418\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/354419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}