Street lights across Leicestershire could be dimmed to save money

Street lights across the county could be dimmed at night to save money, a cash-strapped council has said.

Leicestershire County Council needs to make savings of more than £500,000 in the street lighting department over the next four years, according to a report from the authority.

The council has weighed up a number of options how those savings could be made and is recommending lighting across Leicestershire be dimmed to 30 per cent from 8pm each night. If approved the changes would come into play by the end of the year.

Other options considered were switching off all lights between midnight and 5.30am, and only providing street lighting between September and March. Dimming the lights earlier would be the lowest risk option of the three, the council report added.

But there are concerns around an increase in traffic accidents and people injuring themselves through slips and falls.

There are also worries dimming the lights might lead to the disabled, women, LGBT+ and the elderly becoming more isolated. The report says they could feel less safe being out at night if the area is not as well-lit because of a perception crime and anti-social behaviour could increase.

The council says some lights in the county already start at 70 per cent brightness and are lowered to the 30 per cent threshold from 10pm. Advances in LED technology, which is what the council uses to light its streets, mean the authority can tweak lighting levels during less-busy periods, it added. It has described impact of the newly-proposed changes as ‘minimal’, but said they come with big savings and a large reduction in carbon emissions.

Some roundabouts and major junctions could be excluded from the new lighting regime to lower the risk. The local authority is looking to open the conversation to residents to see how they feel about the proposal and potential areas of exception, with a public consultation expected to be launched in the coming weeks.

The report said: “It is known there are locations that will be of concern and there may need to be exceptions to this change, so an engagement with communities on their views on those potential exceptions will be sought.”

The council will also work with the police and emergency services to further assess any risks involved. The consultation would run for four weeks.

Over the years, the county council has applied similar measures to street lighting, including the switch to LED lighting and the introduction in some areas of measures such as dimming lights, permanently switching them off and part-night lighting.

Councillor Ozzy O’Shea, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “Most people won’t notice any difference. It’s a simple step and it saves money. We already dim our lights so this proposal is looking at establishing minimum lighting levels.

“I want to be clear that we’re not proposing to turn off the lights completely so there’ll still be visibility and it shouldn’t impact on related issues, such as crime. The proposal also acknowledges that light pollution contributes to an increase in carbon emissions.”

Leicestershire County Council’s cabinet will be debating the changes at a meeting on Friday, June 23.