HOMEOWNERS face sharing a bill of up £17,000 to get it out of darkness.
The lights in Golwyg y Waun, Birchgrove, were turned off at the end of October over an unpaid electricity bill.
The firm which built the 45-home development, David McLean, went into administration in 2008, and the bill was unpaid. And so the electricity company pulled the plug on the lights, plunging the street into darkness.
Now Swansea Council has said it will help — meeting 20 per cent of the costs of bringing Golwyg y Waun up to a standard where it can be adopted by the authority — as a "goodwill gesture".
However, a letter to residents said it was going to leave them responsible for paying the remaining 80 per cent — between just under £11,000 and just under £17,000, plus VAT, to bring the street up to a standard.
Costs
Costs could be up to £300-plus VAT per household if all residents agree to the repairs, which would include completing all street lighting, footways, road surfaces and kerbs.
Tony Paget, a Swansea University lecturer who has lived on the street for eight years since it was built said it was a safety issue.
"We're in a semi-rural area and it's extremely dark," he said.
"This started off as us asking for help from the council to pay £200 for the electricity bill.
"Now it could be up to £17,000 (between us). And what would happen if someone refuses to pay? We need these lights turned back on now.
"We've been here eight years, and we've been paying full council tax that whole time.
"What are we paying for? That must include street lighting and maintenance. I would like to know where that money has been going because it's not been spent here."
Residents were set to meet last night to discuss the proposals. June Burtonshaw, Cabinet Member for Place at the council, said: "We have every sympathy with the residents who have been left without street lighting because a developer went in to liquidation.
"We have been working with the residents to try to resolve the matter and take over responsibility for the future maintenance of the street and have stepped in when no one else would.
"It means that in the future we can carry out repairs at no cost to the residents and future electricity costs will be picked up by the council."
