'Lights at night only give us the illusion of being safe' - Your views online

A local councillor has demanded that the council returns lights to a ‘pitch black’ walkway at Inverleith Park, with a community group saying that lack of lighting is putting vulnerable people at risk. The northern part of park has been without any lighting for more than two years.

Not all areas of Inverleith Park are well lit, prompting safety concerns

Fraser Kingscott: It's obviously not acceptable that anyone feels vulnerable but for the most part those feelings can't be fixed with lights. Surely if you don't feel safe you simply choose a different route. I think most people if they're honest have had similar feelings but generally listen to them and act accordingly.

Patrycja Godula: The lights at night give us the illusion that we are safe, but they don’t actually make us safe.

Erin Welsh: May I also add due to tram works etc there are no buses that go anywhere near the Links Gardens/Salamander Place area of Leith. So you have to get off at the other side of Leith Links and walk through the park and when it’s dark and it feels extremely unsafe.

Lynda Kennedy: The new LED street lighting is no good. They are meant to brighten up when you get close to them but often they don't. It’s a predator’s paradise wherever these new lights have been installed I am all for tackling global warming but they are putting people's lives at risk. The streets are far too dark – you cannot see who is coming up to you or from behind you.

Tracey Gilhooley-Rutherford: Surely we should be aiming our anger at those who seek to attack others… it's not just women.

Tia Stockdale: I wouldn’t walk through the park even if it was lit up.

Julz Carpenter: Close the parks at night/dusk if they can’t be lit accordingly. That way there will be fewer attacks. Better to go the long way round and be safer than to go through a dark park and risk not being safe.

Susan Reid: The street lighting in Edinburgh is useless, and that’s when it’s even switched on. Since it’s dark now by about 5pm, people shouldn’t be blamed for walking. City of Edinburgh Council is responsible for lighting up these areas for safety reasons. It’s hugely insulting to say that women shouldn’t be walking in certain areas late at night. I’m sure most women know this already, but we are entitled to walk in well lit up public walkways.

Susan Thomson: It saddens me to say no parks are safe for women at night – with or without lights.

Joshua J Thomson: There are other routes to take. The city already has a lot of light pollution. Why add more when you can walk an extra two or three minutes a different way and stay in light?

Sandra Aitken: It’s far too dark on so many streets and walkways. Time to get normal lights back on

Stuart Munro: Parks are supposed to be dark at night – they're parks, not streets. News flash! Avenues may be shadier than streets or crescents, even during daytime. Who knew?

Steve Gooding: I wasn't aware that parks were supposed to be dark. I'd expect a park that closes at a given time to be dark once closed. But if it’s open and a route many people need to take, as others above have mentioned, I'd expect it to be lit just like any other public place.

Peter Anderson: Edinburgh in general is a not a well lit city, even in the city centre.

Ambulances attacked

An ambulance called to Oxgangs was pelted with unknown items following a hoax call to attend a cardiac arrest. The incident was revealed by the Scottish Ambulance Service, as it released data which showed there have been over 500 verbal or physical assaults on its staff between January 2020 and October 2021.

Laura Henderson: This is absolutely disgusting. Thee NHS is stretched beyond its limits as it is – they don't need pranksters faking something as serious as that. People die from them a cardiac arrest every day. I wonder how they would feel it it was their grandparents, parents aunts, uncles or siblings.

Winifred Colven: It would be interesting if those who did this ever need an ambulance and it couldn’t get to them.

Willie Anderson: Someone knows who they are. They need caught before they do it again.

David Boswell: Why would anyone even want to do that?

Rachel Weir: Ambulance staff work tirelessly to save lives. Some people just have no respect or morals.

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