Communities will be given the option to have streetlights turned off in their neighbourhoods during the hours of darkness if they specifically request it and the scheme does not fall under the exemption criteria.
Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet has approved an updated policy after it was deferred last November so that further engagement and consultation could take place.
Requests to turn off streetlights between 11.30pm and 5.30am in rural locations and from midnight to 5.30am in urban areas will now only be considered if they are proposed by the parish or town council and the ward county councillor – in a similar way to how the council’s 20mph programme operates.
The framework contains a series of exemptions to make sure part-night lighting is not considered in places where it might compromise safety, such as major road junctions, slip roads, rail crossings, areas of traffic calming, waterside paths, remote alleyways, high crime areas, and locations supporting the night-time economy.
Each scheme will also be reviewed by Thames Valley Police using crime, fear of crime and road safety data to ensure there is no increased risk to public safety.
For these reasons, major urban areas such as Oxford are unlikely to be suitable to take part in the scheme and the lights would stay on all night.
Oxfordshire County Council is responsible for about 60,000 streetlights across the county and reducing hours of operation – where safe to do so and where requested – would have environmental benefits through reducing carbon emissions and improving biodiversity, as well as cutting energy costs.
The implementation of part-night lighting complements other existing energy and carbon reduction measures already introduced, including; streetlighting LED lantern conversion, the de-illumination of traffic bollards and dimming of streetlights.
Councillor Liz Leffman, Leader of Oxfordshire County Council, said: “We have confidence that the updated policy and the way it would be implemented would not reduce public safety. Part-night lighting will only be implemented on a case-by -case basis and there will not be a one-size-fits-all approach.
“Since November 2024, we have been carefully engaging with stakeholders and held a public consultation. This approach has informed the updated policy.
“While there are many places where implementation would not be suitable for safety reasons it’s also important to recognise that for some of our communities there would be positive benefits from this. For instance, reducing light pollution can help improve biodiversity and nature recovery.
“As a result of cabinet’s approval, part-night lighting schemes would only proceed if the community wanted to adopt it. There would be a further public and stakeholder consultation for each scheme.”