Agenda and minutes

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 30/01/2025

The Minutes from the meeting of the Place and Resources Committee on 30/01/2025 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chair

To disclose any pecuniary, other registrable or non-registrable interests as set out in the adopted Code of Conduct. In making their disclosure councillors are asked to state the agenda item, the nature of the interest and any action they propose to take as part of their declaration.

If required, further advice should be sought from the Monitoring Officer in advance of the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

Representatives of town or parish councils and members of the public who live, work, or represent an organisation within the Dorset Council area are welcome to submit either 1 question or 1 statement for each meeting.  You are welcome to attend the meeting in person or via MS Teams to read out your question and to receive the response.   If you submit a statement for the committee this will be circulated to all members of the committee in advance of the meeting as a supplement to the agenda and appended to the minutes for the formal record but will not be read out at the meeting. The first 8 questions and the first 8 statements received from members of the public or organisations for each meeting will be accepted on a first come first served basis in accordance with the deadline set out below.  Further information read Public Participation - Dorset Council

All submissions must be emailed in full to [email protected]

by 8.30am on 10/03/2025

When submitting your question or statement please note that:

•         You can submit 1 question or 1 statement.

•         a question may include a short pre-amble to set the context.

•         It must be a single question and any sub-divided questions will not be permitted.

•         Each question will consist of no more than 450 words, and you will be given up to 3 minutes to present your question.

•         when submitting a question please indicate who the question is for (e.g., the name of the committee or Portfolio Holder)

•         Include your name, address, and contact details.  Only your name will be published but we may need your other details to contact you about your question or statement in advance of the meeting.

•         questions and statements received in line with the council’s rules for public participation will be published as a supplement to the agenda.

•         all questions, statements and responses will be published in full within the minutes of the meeting.

The following statement was shared by the Corporate Director for Highways and Engineering on behalf of Dr Gavin Rider, Dorset Council Resident.

• The calculations presented to illustrate the energy efficiency and running cost savings of low-CCT luminaires are not representative of the best available options. CU Phosco Nightscape 1850K LED luminaires, for example, outperform the Ampera Evo 2700K luminaires given as examples by APSE. There are also likely to be other makes that perform just as well (e.g. the Nichia 1800K LED street lights that have been installed on the A47 at Longthorpe, near Peterborough, which were selected to blend in with the existing high pressure sodium lights: https://flickread.com/edition/html/index.php?pdf=66fbccca0c1f6#33 ).
• This shows that it would be feasible to install these amber LEDs without having to increase the number of lighting columns or reduce their spacing as is stated in the briefing document.
• Amber (1850K) LEDs are preferable over higher CCT LEDs for environmental protection reasons, being less disruptive to nocturnal species.
• Amber LEDs emit very little blue light, hence they comply with the recommendations for the avoidance of blue-rich light at night (issued by the American Medical Association, Public Health England, the 2^nd International Workshop on Circadian and Neurophysiological Photometry and ICNIRP [International Commission for Non-Ionising Radiation Protection]). This is necessary to avoid the very serious negative health impacts that are associated with melatonin suppression, which causes circadian rhythm disruption. (As was also noted by the National Institute for Health Research, part of the NHS, in 2015).
• British Standard BS5489 (Code of Practice for lighting of roads and public amenity areas) specifies lighting standards that are based on the environmental zones specified in ILP guidance document GN01. Recommended spill light levels from street lighting are also based on the same environmental zones. It is therefore essential to comply with the definitions for environmental zones contained in GN01, which are based on the ambient light level of the area measured with a special low-light meter called a Sky Quality Meter.
• Failure to use the correct environmental zone definitions (as has been the case in Dorset for many years) results in lights being used that have a higher brightness than is specified in British Standard BS5489. This results in excessive light pollution, spill light levels, energy consumption and CO₂ emissions. Correctly following the environmental zone definitions in GN01 (i.e. using SQM values) will allow lower-powered lights to be used, creating less environmental impact, less light intrusion nuisance, and lower CO₂ emissions. For example, a calculation performed for another local authority indicated that operating the lights at P5 level (the correct level for residential zones according to BS5489) instead of the P4 level hitherto used, would immediately achieve a 40% reduction in electricity consumption.

To receive questions submitted by councillors.  

Councillors can submit up to two valid questions at each meeting and sub divided questions count towards this total.   Questions and statements received will be published as a supplement to the agenda and all questions, statements and responses will be published in full within the minutes of the meeting. 

The submissions must be emailed in full to [email protected] by 8.30am on 10/03/2025 

Dorset Council Constitution – Procedure Rule 13

There were no questions from Councillors.

To consider the report from the Corporate Director of Highways & Engineering

The Corporate Director for Highways and Engineering presented the report and illustrated the difference of the Light-emitting Diode (LED) options that were considered as part of the report and detailed the financial and environmental impacts of the recommendations.

Following the presentation there was a wide-ranging discussion that considered several key areas and emphasised points in the process leading to and final policy considered by Cabinet after consultation.

·       Environmental, wildlife and human impact of lighting

·       The limitations of options of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) arrangements in terms of options and supply chain considerations.

·       The importance of being bound by reality and what was deliverable and feasible

·       Technical and financial issues

·       Regional and local differences of requirements and the importance of zoning appropriately.

The Place and Resources Overview Committee’s key considerations and recommendations for the development of the policy

·       The timings of street lighting and when they should be on or off and the potential of dimming options.

·       The potential of using shading/shielding to access the better value options without causing residents issues via light spilling

·       The definition and reassessment of the environmental zones and the importance of local choice and area differentiation.

·       Minimum or no lighting as the default position with the need for the light to be justified based on safety or legal requirement.

·       To clarify the cost to Town and Parish councils and the options for early replacement or preference-based changes.

·       The replacement rate and the cost implications of increasing that rate.

·       The lighting in new developments would be required to align with the policy adopted.

·       last train or bus times to be coordinated with lighting switch off times.

·       Safety considerations and the opportunity with adaptive lighting.

·       Coordination and partnership working with developers, housing providers and others who may have their own lighting provision.

·       The importance of a thorough consultation and engagement with the local communities to create a robust policy.

It was proposed by Cllr Taylor and seconded by Cllr Tarr that the policy be referred to Cabinet in September with the above considerations and recommendations.

To review the Place and Resources Overview Committee Work Programme.

To review the Cabinet Forward Plan.

The committee discussed the forward plan and the Cabinet forward plan.

The following areas were suggested as items-

·       Hedge to hedge

·       Flooding and flood response- Climate resilience

To consider any items of business which the Chair has had prior notification and considers to be urgent pursuant to section 100B (4) b) of the Local Government Act 1972. The reason for the urgency shall be recorded in the minutes.

There were no urgent items.

To move the exclusion of the press and the public for the following item in view of the likely disclosure of exempt information within the meaning of paragraph x of schedule 12 A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended). The public and the press will be asked to leave the meeting whilst the item of business is considered.  

There are no exempt items scheduled for this meeting.

There was no exempt business.