The next phase of a Cornwall Council green initiative to reduce carbon emissions, cut light pollution to help nature recovery and encourage nocturnal wildlife, protect our designated Dark Skies areas, and save money on energy costs, is being rolled out.

The council is turning off some of its streetlights when most residents are asleep between the hours of midnight and 5am. Streetlights in town centres where there is a strong night-time economy, areas where there is CCTV, and along main roads, will remain on or will be dimmed.

Residents can see for themselves where and when streetlights will be turned off or dimmed between the hours of midnight and 5am with an interactive map on the Council website.

The council’s portfolio holder for transport, Richard Williams-Pears said: “So far 670 of the council’s streetlights have been dimmed or turned off. That number increases to 3,800 in this next phase. The feedback we’ve had during phase one centres on concerns around safety. Safety is at the forefront in any decision about switching off streetlights. We won’t be compromising on safety as where risk assessments have shown that streetlights are still beneficial, they will be kept on, or will be dimmed once new LED bulbs are fitted. Any concerns and requests, including requests from parish and town councils for areas where they want to see streetlights switched off or turned back on again, are fully considered.” 

Streetlights will remain on, or be dimmed in locations such as: traffic signal junctions, pedestrian crossings, subways, some roundabouts and junctions, parts of town centres and footpaths that are still relatively busy during the night, on certain roads where there is traffic calming and speed humps, areas where there is CCTV or police surveillance equipment  and entrances and exits to hospitals, police, ambulance and fire stations.