Letter sent to the council this week.
We now have a very short space of time to raise £20,000 to fix and update for the future all the heritage lamp posts in the Square. Such a huge part of our Town identity, help us save them!
To make a donation to help the cause please click this link;
Letter from the Community Council to Aberdeenshire Council:
I'd like to thank Cllrs Gwyneth Petrie, Jeff Goodhall and Janelle Clark for arranging the Public Meeting on Thurs 19th Sept'24 in the Stewarts Hall to inform on the decision made to remove the 10 heritage Lampposts in the Square.
It seems the decision was based on advice given by the Council Roads and Lighting Dept through Mr Leiper following historic damage caused by vehicles to 3 lampposts and subsequent visual inspections of the others indicating evidence of corrosion and possible failure. Despite the Community Council repeatedly requesting the detailed technical evidence of the inspections and highlighting the sensitivity of losing the lamppost from the town's historic Square the decision was made, based on well meaning but unsubstantiated safety grounds, that all 10 lampposts were to be removed w/c 23rd Sept'24 with no plans for the Council to replace them as the lighting levels from other street lights in the Square were sufficient and the Council budgets could not cover their replacement.
However, it is considered this decision was taken without due process and regard to the feelings of the public and with no regard to the significance of the Square's Heritage and traditional appearance which these lights are a key contributor and is of great importance to the town and its residents and visitors alike.
Considering the short notice given and limited publicity for the meeting a reasonable attendance was achieved and a good representation of the public views were put across. That being, for the lamppost to remain in place or replaced.
The key to the decision for their removal was the condition of the base plates which had only been visually inspected by the Council Lighting Dept from above the pavement level and it was accepted their condition could not be substantiated on this basis. The offer was made by a local Marine Equipment Specialist Company, Motive Fabrication Ltd, to conduct a more thorough inspection on one of the lampposts to provide a comprehensive assessment of their condition.
It was agreed that w/c 23rd September arrangements would be made with Motive in conjunction with the Council to remove one of the standing lampposts for inspection and report the findings to the Council before any further decision is made to remove the remaining.
I can advise the following report has been received from Colin Forsyth General Manager Motive Fabrication Ltd:
As advised earlier the opportunity to view the first of the towns square heritage light post removal took place on the morning of 23/09/24. Whilst the main flange plate which is 15 mm thick shows signs of surface rust this does not penetrate into any depth of the plate and is surface rust only, 1-2mm deep at most. The 5” thin wall pipe sleeve that supports this flange plate approx. 800mm long which is embedded in cement does show corrosion, whilst still solid presently, is starting to deteriorate.
However I would stress that 3 men and a Hiab Council crane struggled to free this unit exerting substantial pressure so I have no doubt these units are still safe for some time!
Bearing in mind a 6mm fillet weld 1” long can support safely 1 te, almost 400mm of 6mm fillet weld both inside and outside, this post foundation is fit for purpose and in my mind more than safe! Note I did have to step in and request the operatives to stop hitting the cast iron base plates of the post with a cold cut chisel and a 5ld hammer, cast Iron is not the best when impacted with shock loads.
My suggestion would be to replace all the 5” pipe with a much thicker wall pipe, suggest sch 80 which has a wall thickness of 9.53 mm and far more robust for the future, bearing in mind the original ones have lasted over 20 years!
New concrete foundations will be required.
We now have 2 posts which are located in the Council yard and which I have arranged to be transported to EBLAST for future remedial coating.
Suggest we get another town meeting sorted asap to discuss and also propose that if we get the permission to carry out these works there is no apparent reason that our beloved light baskets could not be considered to be attached to a safe post !
Can you advise a suitable time for a follow up public meeting with the Council to agree the way forward for the retention and subsequent timing of the refurbishment of the Lampposts.
We have had positive offers of support from local businesses such as Motive, EBlast and R&M Engineering and a subgroup of the Huntly Community Council - the Huntly Museum and Heritage Group (HMHG) is to be formed to take responsibility for raising funds to cover the costs of their refurbishment and members of the public have volunteered to help. To kick this off a Crowdfunding initiative through a Just Giving site has been set up for donations.
We would be pleased to hear back on your thoughts on moving this forward.
Regards,
Tony Gill
Chair Huntly Community Council