Dreading tonight

[dave34]

As i type this, the local council are replacing the streetlight just 15ft to the south of my south facing garden with an LED one, the old dim light was a pain at times, but this new one is directed right at me, ive already heard that theyve put these up elsewhere in the town and they are incredibly bright, is this the end of my garden obsevation point?, ive got a horrible feeling it is. im gutted. Dave

[long_arms]

Oh No. I feel for you.

Where I live it is all LED streetlights. I contacted the council and they very quickly (within a couple of weeks) installed light shields on them which in my case has improved things.

Maybe you should do the same.

Dan

[dave34]

That sounds like a good idea, hopefully my local council will be as helpful as yours, cheers Dan

[long_arms]

Yes fingers crossed.

The lightshields are decent, however they only cover the front so if the streetlight is side facing it will not help.

[Tyr]

Maybe you could ask them to make sure it's directed away from your house while they're installing it in the first place.

If they're out there doing it now I guess there's no harm in asking the workmen

[jezhughes]

How did you request with the council? I.e. did you say you were an astronomer attempting to look at the sky or did you say something else like light shining in to your house?

[long_arms]

How did you request with the council? I.e. did you say you were an astronomer attempting to look at the sky or did you say something else like light shining in to your house?

I did start a thread on here about it but I can't be bothered to find it now. In Hampshire, where I am, its controlled by Hampshire county council.

I rang them up and was completely honest saying it was ruining my nights out with the telescope. In fact the streetlights I had shielded aren't even on my road! They also said they would consider other options in the future if the shields didn't help enough . I was very impressed

Dan

[dave34]

ive just spoken to them, ive got to send them a letter, they will send someone out to see me, i will see tonight how bad it is, then pen a letter tomorrow, i mentioned the possibility of having a light shield fitted, the response was possitive, hopefully all will be ok. Dave

[Stu]

We had new lights fitted recently and whilst the overall upwards light pollution is reduced, they seem to have a much broader spread. This was completely lighting up my front garden and shining into our bedroom.

I emailed the contractor responsible via a link on the council website. They responded very positively, fitting a rear shield, and then when this didn't help, a side shield which has blocked any direct light into the house. The garden still has some overspill but it does not affect my observing so I'm happy. The work was done within six days each time so I would definitely recommend giving it a go.

Stu

[dave34]

ive got my fingers crossed Stu, cheers, Dave

[Ludd]

Don't despair (yet)! We've just had new white lights fitted, and they're badly done in many ways but the overall effect on my back garden observing is OK. I lose the ability to filter out the orange stuff, but the sky does seem to look significantly more natural, and I think there's much less upwards light spill.

[dave34]

Ludd was spot on, no need to panic at all, if anything the new LED light is better than the orange one that theyve replaced,the halo of orange light that surrounded the old light was massive and yet this new light allows you to look very close to it, the LP is minimal, the skies are definately clearer, im happy again. clear skies.

[andyboy1970]

With light pollution laws, I think if it intrudes into your house/garden they have to install a shield or redirect it if you complain.

[MorningMajor]

We've had them and one shone right in my eyeline - I asked them to re align the head, which they did and angled it away from me - now I hardly notice it (kind of!) - so it could be worth asking your council if it's too obtrusive

[Stu]

I didn't mention astronomy as I always try to keep this quiet for kit security reasons, just mentioning that the light was disturbing my sleep was enough (and true).

To emphasise the positive, although the spread is worse, the upwards spill is definitely better, and the lights also dim after midnight which is even better. As long as you can avoid direct light from them, you should be ok.

Stu

[jezhughes]

I didn't mention astronomy as I always try to keep this quiet for kit security reasons, just mentioning that the light was disturbing my sleep was enough (and true).

To emphasise the positive, although the spread is worse, the upwards spill is definitely better, and the lights also dim after midnight which is even better. As long as you can avoid direct light from them, you should be ok.

Stu

Indeed Stu, your signature suggests you got a lot to steal

[whooshbang]

ive just spoken to them, ive got to send them a letter, they will send someone out to see me, i will see tonight how bad it is, then pen a letter tomorrow, i mentioned the possibility of having a light shield fitted, the response was possitive, hopefully all will be ok. Dave

Probably best not to mention you are an Astronomer, Your request will go straight to the bottom of the 'Low Priority' pile and your request will likely be rejected. It's easier and cheaper for them to send a letter than fit a shield.

[Welrod50]

I hope I get this same positive treatment when my time comes. I live in Stoke-on-Trent which is apparently the poorest city in the modern western world, so I wont hold me breath

On a serious note, I have one light in the street to the rear of our house which isn't much of a problem at the moment, but I anticipate that when it goes LED, this may alter.

I'm quite sure this debate will continue...

Clear skies (and streets!)

[Astro_Baby]

Can I just say I happen to work for a Council, its not always easy to balance conflicting demands from residents but my experience has always been that we will try to fix most peoples problems and in my time that has extended to doing work which strictly speaking we could just say 'not our problem' to.

Honest we arent the ogres and jobsworths people often assume and with things pike drainage and steetlights I have known the two Councils I have worked for to work hard to get a resolution even when its not actually our problem.

Streetlights by the way are nearly always supplied by a County Council or Metropolitan Council rather than the local or district council As its the mre regional or city Councils who control highyways....the district councils can be a good ally if you are not getting help from your County Council.

Just as an aside as well the worst offenders for a lot of stuff are private estates under the control of sometimes near impossible to deal with managing agents. I happen to live on one and trying to get our managing agent to do anything is nigh on impossible.

[andyboy1970]

Agree with Astro_Baby, Morrisons built a huge distribution centre just to the north of the village and the light going skywards is horrendous.