Good news for Suffolk stargazers......

[stan26]

Hi folks, just noticed this morning on the east anglian daily times website that a scheme has been intorduced to turn off suffolk street lights, starting in ipswich this week. Looks like most if not all places in suffolk will do the same by may 2012.

Town?s lights to be turned off - News - East Anglian Daily Times

Sorry if this has already been covered....

stan.

[Astro Imp]

Hi Stan,

That's great news.

I read the article you mentioned, did you notice that Daphne Savage from Age UK is reported as saying that loosing street lights in the evening could make it worse for older people. I would hardly say that 12.00pm to 5.00am constitutes evening, these spokepeople need to think a bit before rushing to condemn. Incidently I am one of the older generation.

[rocketandroll]

Awesome!

Im in Ipswich, though it won't help me at the moment as my garden backs onto the docks, which are floodlit 24/7.

Gonna be moving to another part of town later this year though so it should help then.

Good news!

Ben

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

[Midpoint]

I wonder how long these switch offs will last. We have the lights in Hertfordshire turned off between 00:00 and 06:00 and it's already started causing a fuss here with people complaining that it will increase crime rates

Crime fears as Welwyn Hatfield streetlights are switched off - News - Welwyn Hatfield Times

[steelfixer]

Living in Ipswich thats the best news I read on here.

[ccbmedic]

Im quite close to the seafront here in Lowestoft and on the southern edge of town so dont really get alot of light pollution or so I thought.....Since the lights have been turned off my seeing has improved tenfold. I think its a great idea to turn off the street lighting. Not so great from a crime point of view though, but then again...dark or light...if your going to be a target for crime its going to happen regardless!!!

[Daniel-K]

got a room for rent ??

[freelander86]

Its amazing how many people on this forum are from suffolk!!!

[Chris]

I thought that, it seems to be an Astronomy hotspot, I live in north east Ipswich and they have been turning the lights out after 12 for a while now and I love it! not only is it great for us Astronomers it will saves energy and money, win win if you ask me, I hope we don't go backwards on this..

[kyrol]

I`m just off the London road in Ipswich an the steet lights have been going off at midnight for a few months now.

[lukebl]

Hey. Let's all move to Ipswich. Looks like they have the right idea.

...actually, one of my darkest shameful secrets is that I was born in Ipswich. Not a lot of people know that. Well, they do now.

[Neil1194]

In Herts the county council wont be reviewing for at least 18 months - they want to see a complete winter through from start to finish before making any decision. Theres been the usual moaners -'my elderly mum could trip on the path etc' between 0015 and 0615hrs?

[Hawksmoor]

Lowestoft is much improved by the lights being turned off at 12.00 midnight. The youths that used to hang about after the pubs shut are no longer about (presumably frightened of the dark), crime is generally down according to the statistics in the local paper and when the clouds part - the night sky from my backyard is splendid!

I was so pleased that Suffolk trialed this scheme in Lowestoft that I emailed the CEO of Suffolk to thank him/her and sent a picture of the night sky from my backyard. I believe that they used this at the committee meeting when the trial was reviewed. I was told that they had received many objections from moaning OAPS (presumably the same contingent that writes to the local paper regularly about the "blight" that is wind-turbines).

More power to Suffolk CC (not a statement I thought I would ever make). I would therefore recommend sending emails etc of support to the Council once the lights are turned off in your area if only to negate the flood of complaints they will receive from the usual culprits. By the way I'm not ageist and I am retired myself I just get fed up with ill informed miserable b****rs having such a disproportionate influence on the environment and everyone's lives!

best regards to all Suffolk Astronomers from George Aka Hawksmoor

[Cjg]

I love that one of the comments on that article was to suggest that they only play football in daylight hours at Portman Road, avoiding the use of floodlights - didn't think they played football at all there; unlike Carrow Road of course

[Quatermass]

Good good good I hate stupid street lights on all ruddy night they turn them off in our street now at 12midnight and its brilliant! I wait till midnight to do my imaging now as once those lights go off its lovely and dark and you can see the milky way blazing above. Seeing as how most people are installing those highly annoying flood lights in there gardens I hate them even more then why do we need street lights on all night simple answer is we dont. About time now let see more of them being turned off I say. But then again I would say that because I would rather see the stars then a horrible orange glow.

[Catweazel]

That's good news! I wish that they would do it here. I live in a small market town in Norfolk, and there seems to be a staggering amount of lighting on at night. On my street there are the usual sodium lights, plus lots of folk seem to have outside lights or security lights in their back gardens; you would think it was the crime capital of Europe? Bonkers, and a complete waste of money