Great News for UK astro geeks

[cosmic keith]

Just read this Street lights switched off in HALF of Britain | Mail Online in the mail on Sunday, let's hope it goes ahead!

[timmyp]

Good news for people in those areas, unfortunately Derbyshire isnt listed :-(

[Moonshane]

neither is Stockport or Manchester

[Neilius]

Or West Yorkshire (surprisingly)

[michaelmorris]

Yes, this would be great news if it comes off. However, the paper concerned (Daily Mail) doesn't exactly have a reputation for unbiased and accurate reporting and it seems pretty plain where their editorial position on this is. Turn off the lights and you will all be killed!

The Daily Mail - the paper that tries to make you scared of everything.

[Nexus 6]

Well have to agree with Michael on the paper, lets hope it may be true and other councils do the same. I was astounded when on a couple of occasions lately I have taken a 5 min walk away from my home for a better horizon with the skies perfectly light and clear at around 2.00am yet all the lights are on!. This is a disgrace, if all the energy suppliers are announcing yet more rises, shame on them, how can the councils keep them on when its even more costly to do so and they are so short of money with many people losing their jobs?

Nothing happening in this region either

[MjrTom]

Nor Merseyside... Maybe I should just pay the local yobs to brick out the annoying streetlamp overlooking my backgarden...

[mag10]

Lucky Brits!

We can only hope similar measures will be taken here soon.

As to the crime issue, an advocate for LP reduction said "Burglars and vandals love all that lighting. It makes their job easier. It's much harder for them to light their own way, and it makes them easier to spot".

[Simms]

"An AA spokesman said: ‘If local people are paying taxes and want to keep street lights, they should be not be turned off.’"

I`m a taxpayer and I want the damn things off.

[Moonshane]

was the AA spokesman off the wagon at the time?

[todd8137]

if not turn them off turn them down gas and electric set to rise 18% in the uk we all pay council tax which a certain amount goes on street lighting so we all should have a say street lights do not stop thiefs fact so turn them right down is what i say the motorway lightd go of so should street lights

[Belmthemus]

I wonder if anyone has actually used the freedom of information act to check crime rates in proportion to street lighting. Where I live there is a street which if you walk down it you feel like it's the middle of the day it's that bright, still has the same problems with crime though it does make the police job easier when raiding any of the houses.

[pete_l]

I was quite optimistic until I saw it was a reference to the Daily Wail. You can't really believe their stories. Even if there was a kernel of truth in it, it will have been twisted to suit their agenda.

I'll believe it when I see it (or read it in a proper newspaper )

[Belmthemus]

Just found this : Highland council street lighting trials

Although also found this at my local council re: street lighting I for one haven't witnessed any improvement the exact opposite in fact it's gradually gotten worse since I moved back up here 12 years ago !

[Dave]

I'll believe it when I see it (or read it in a proper newspaper )

Maybe it will be in the News Of The World next Sunday?

[Zakalwe]

I'm surprised that the Daily Wail didn't blame the lights turning off on illegal immigrants or "feckless youth", and that it would cause house prices to tumble, putting further pressure ion Middle England. Or that there wasn't a link saying that the lights going off caused Princess Diana's car to crash.

[russ]

We are in one of the councils committed to dimming the lights.....trouble is the lights are 50% too bright as is and they are only being dimmed 25% after midnight. Will make no real difference. Will still be able to wash the car or do the gardening all night long.

[Adamski]

It's very good news and i'm sure plenty more councils will follow suit after they have observed the ones already doing so. I'm very fortunate as the street lights in my village switch off at about 2am, it's still annoying to have to wait until that unsociable hour to do some decent viewing but i am grateful that they do it at all. They surely must be aware of how much money and energy the will save.

[spaceboy]

"Lights will be kept on after midnight only in spots with a higher risk of crime or accidents."

Just make sure if your trying to sell your house and the lights stay on at night you get the estate agent to come around in the middle of the day with perspective buyers I wonder if it will effect house prices like homes in areas at high risk of flooding.

[lukebl]

As has been noted in previous threads, the new generation of street lights are not only brighter, but consume much less energy. So cost savings don't necessarily mean dimmer lights. Quite the reverse, in fact, as I've noticed round here where the old street lights have recently been replaced.

Once the Daily Fail populace realise that we can have brighter streets AND lower council tax bills, they will all be clamouring for the lovely bright new lights so that we get rid of that nasty scary thing called darkness, once and for all.

[pete_l]

"Lights will be kept on after midnight only in spots with a higher risk of crime or accidents."

Just make sure if your trying to sell your house and the lights stay on at night you get the estate agent to come around in the middle of the day with perspective buyers I wonder if it will effect house prices like homes in areas at high risk of flooding.

I'd be surprised if it had any effect (unless the prospective buyer was an astronomer). It's so easy, these days, to look up an address in the crime maps to get an idea of the desirability of a house.

[cosmic keith]

Durham county council have already implimented the reduction in street lighting, after chatting to one of their engineers he commented "it "is" going to happen whether people like or not" the savings being made will be so dramatic we have little choice".

A canny stretch of the A167 has had new "down light" heads fitted together with new sensors which are linked to a control center, individual light's can be dimmed or indeed turned off.

Apparently the new system isn't cheap and it will take time to have all of the lamp posts fitted with the new light's and sensors but hey - it's a step in the right direction.

[whooshbang]

They're already dimming the lights on A38 out of Bristol. Wondered why the Gloucester Rd looked darker on my way home at 2am Sunday morning.

By the time i reached my house though i noticed that no changes in street lighting were made.... still blaring them out.... perhaps i should move closer to city. ooh the irony.

That aside though, i hope they follow this up country wide. There was talk of changing street lights so the light only shone downward some years ago. Apparently stupid amounts of light is wasted shinning into the sky above so reflecting the light downward and reducing the power seemed like the sensible thing to do.... weather this actually happened or not i do not know. certainly didn't by my house.

[PortableAstronomer]

I wish they would turn out lights here in the Netherlands.

"An AA spokesman said: ‘If local people are paying taxes and want to keep street lights, they should be not be turned off.’"

Many on here would agree that they pay taxes and want the lights turned off too, and I would be no exception. Not all members on SGL agree the lights should be dimmed though; some have equated the "switch them off brigade" as "the minority [arrogantly] trying to inflict their opinions on the majority". You're entitled to your opinions of course !

There's the wider perception that people are paying taxes in order to get services, and then if some of those services are switched off then it would understandably make the locals angry as their local taxes keep going up. Paying for more and getting less, particularly if there's very little local consultation on the matter ; I can see why people would get angry. The other problem is the fear of dark that's been discussed on many threads on SGL ; not helped of course by newspaper editors and their scaremongering.

In the article there was a quote that said that "I hear crime hasn't been affected so far.... but I don't believe that". That's another problem, people just don't know who to believe.

Let's all go and rate the comments at the bottom of that article ! Some comments have good points, but some are shockingly ignorant.

[UTMonkey]

Good news for people in those areas, unfortunately Derbyshire isnt listed :-(

True, but there was something in "Derbyshire First" where Derbyshire County Council said that they are in the early stages of considering it.

Fingers crossed.

Mark