Council taking the micky

[spaceboy]

Trouble is, the councils get a complaint that a particular lamp is being a nuisance pollution wise, and so the attenuate it in some way, then sometime later, about 50 more residents complain that the same lamp is faulty, and can they please restore it its former glory .

This is my thinking behind the tape being removed so promptly. I don't want to be the old fart over the rd with out anything else to do looking for some thing to moan about. People ignorant to how many stars there are actually in the skies above cannot appreciate the impact poorly constructed st lights have for those wanting to look at those said stars. I understand that they might not appreciate the path being unlit as they have no interest in astronomy but they do have an interest in not treading in dog ____ because some dog owner left it in the middle of the unlit path.

[glowjet]

Having a read through some of the threads, these lights are still apparently operated by solar dial time switch, these went out with the Ark and they should be on PE cell control, this is just extra energy expense for the council, doesn`t cure your problem though, as a retired lighting Eng, I imagine the columns will be the old 5M type or 6M at the outside. I know this is going to sound really daft, but have you considered erecting a 20ft scaffold pole on your boundary, adjacent to the light, with a simple pulley system so that you can haul some sort of square shield up when you want to use the scope, a couple of cords on the bottom corners of the shield should stop it from twisting when in place. This, however, you may consider to be a step to far, just a thought to help solve your problem

[nicnac]

If only we had a councillor or two on the boards.

it would be interesting to know if any MP or councillor is an avid amateur astronomer and what their LP is like where they live

[spaceboy]

19 months later and it appears all my efforts were not in vain. The street is now receiving a light upgrade to LED lights. It appears that we are the first and only council housed st that is receiving the upgrade at this moment in time. I know it's not the most ideal outcome given you can't filter out the light of LED but none the less there is a good change the actual light will be pointing in a downward direction as apposed to every direction including my back yard. I have not been informed by any off the people I contacted that this is a result of my pestering them but I can't help but question why our st would be picked to be the first in our neighbourhood to receive the upgrade. I can only assume that my complaint was put on record and they figured it was as good a place to start as any. Either way I am keeping my fingers crossed that there will be an improvement and that something is finally being done about the poorly directioned st lighting in my st.

[nicnac]

still nothing on this end.

good result for you though

[spaceboy]

Cheers Nick but I'm not throwing a party just yet. I hear these LED lights are quite bright so even if the sky is that bit less polluted I may still suffer by lack of dark adaption if I kop an eye full. I just hope my garden is no longer lit after the upgrade.

[Rob1961]

A while ago someone (not me) on another thread suggested a cardboard box on the end of a long pole until the end of the session. For gardening purposes only (cough) I've found bamboo canes from the £1 shop tied together with either tape or string to add to their length are useful in reaching those difficult to get at places when retrieving boxes that have reached inaccesible places

[spaceboy]

^{September 2011 I started my quest to reduce the glare from 3 St lights at the rear of my garden and not only did I hit a wall of silence from the council but matters were made far worse by the installation of LED lighting. After more attempts than I care to mention I finally gave up on the council doing anything about it and extended my fencing up around my garden pier as high as practically possible to at least give me some escape from the glare. As luck would have it a local labour councillor came a knocking my door a couple weeks ago, and in the attempt to gain some votes he asked if there was anything that had been bothering me. Needless to say the lighting and the lack of understanding from the council to do anything about it was the hot topic. All the lights had shields fitted last Friday and voting is today. Now that's service}

[ronin]

Suppose the question is: Did you vote for him ??

Secondly if not already done it may be a good idea to find a contact for him and say Thank you.

[Daniel-K]

RESULT!

[barkis]

I'm very pleased you managed to get that annoying problem out of the way Spaceboy.

Salvation comes in many forms, for you, an election  Candidate seeking your help.

Whether you did vote for his Party is irrelevant, and you don't have to divulge to anyone.

It just goes to show that annoying and Intrusive lighting can be rectified legally, without the 

threats of damage infliction often bandied about in these threads.

I hope your Observing improves a hundred fold, and thanks to that Chap, and your own efforts too    . 

Ron.

[HD-AP]

Having a read through some of the threads, these lights are still apparently operated by solar dial time switch, these went out with the Ark and they should be on PE cell control, this is just extra energy expense for the council, doesn`t cure your problem though, as a retired lighting Eng, I imagine the columns will be the old 5M type or 6M at the outside. I know this is going to sound really daft, but have you considered erecting a 20ft scaffold pole on your boundary, adjacent to the light, with a simple pulley system so that you can haul some sort of square shield up when you want to use the scope, a couple of cords on the bottom corners of the shield should stop it from twisting when in place. This, however, you may consider to be a step to far, just a thought to help solve your problem

An alternative to the scaffold pole would be one of those telescopic fibreglass flag poles they collapse down to about 1 metre or so and when not in use would be less intrusive ,good idea though.

[spaceboy]

Suppose the question is: Did you vote for him ??

Secondly if not already done it may be a good idea to find a contact for him and say Thank you.

I made sure I emailed thanking him for his efforts the moment I saw the shades had made an improvement.

I'm very pleased you managed to get that annoying problem out of the way Spaceboy.

Salvation comes in many forms, for you, an election  Candidate seeking your help.

Whether you did vote for his Party is irrelevant, and you don't have to divulge to anyone.

It just goes to show that annoying and Intrusive lighting can be rectified legally, without the 

threats of damage infliction often bandied about in these threads.

I hope your Observing improves a hundred fold, and thanks to that Chap, and your own efforts too    . 

Ron.

The lights were not dimmed (apparently easily done with the LED lights) but the shades and the fact the lights direct light straight down has made a significant difference. I just can't believe it has took so long to get something done and even then it was only by good fortune. Hopefully if anyone else is suffering similar problems you at least know you have more chance getting something done during elections. I say during elections as I had previously contacted my conservative councillor trying to resolve this problem and all I got was "I'll look in to it"

[nightfisher]

Sounds like a good result Nick,

i remember you experienced difficult viewing conditions from way back, lets hope your views are nicely improved

[philhas]

I have a light which shined into my backyard from about 50 meters away, the council refused to shield it as its across a road so I grew a tree instead :-)

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[Davey-T]

I've been psyching myself up to correspond with the council about getting a shield fitted to an annoying street light, however I have on two previous occasions had dialogue with them once over the poll tax fiasco and once with building control, neither time did they cover themselves with glory, losing correspondence, contradicting themselves and outright lying so don't hold out a lot of hope

Dave

[Jim Steele]

Glad you got it sorted, I'm blessed with favourable conditions nothing at the back of us despite our edge of town location.

[Mr Spock]

It shows if you follow the correct procedure an excellent result can be obtained. Well done

Some of the illegal/inappropriate solutions we hear quite often do a great diservice to the astronomical community and paint us in a bad light. Only moments ago I had to remove another post suggesting interference with a streetlight - no more please.

[kerrylewis]

I live on an unadopted road which means that the local town council deal with lighting. I tried to get something done with the light outside my house after a lovely spell when it wasn't working! I didn't get very far and then the chap opposite had the catalytic converter pinched from his car parked outside his house one night recently! So I assumed that was that!

However, after the dust has settled a bit on that incident I will try again I think using the councillor route that seems to have worked for Spaceboy - well done! 

[barkis]

There will not be many more warnings about illegal modifications to

street lamps, or security lighting.

Even tongue in cheek vandalism will not be regarded as amusing.

Anyone posting measures of an illegal nature, will put their membership

of SGL in  jeopardy.

Think very carefully before posting your questionable solutions gentlemen.

For those of you who have not read the Code of Conduct, it is in your own interests to do so. They are the rules you promise to abide by, the moment you sign up.

The following is an extract from that CoC which covers what is being referred to in the above post

Barkis.

Quote:

"Illegal Use
You may not use our forums for illegal purposes, in support of illegal activities, or encourage conduct that would constitute a criminal offence, as determined by the laws of the United Kingdom. Such activities will guarantee a ban. We reserve the right to cooperate with legal authorities and/or injured third parties in the investigation of any suspected crime or civil wrongdoing.

Ron.

[kerrylewis]

Ron - you refer to the 'above post' - I assume that is not mine? I can't see anything wrong with what I wrote

Kerry

[Mr Spock]

That's not what he meant

There was an offending post earlier which was removed from view

[barkis]

Ron - you refer to the 'above post' - I assume that is not mine? I can't see anything wrong with what I wrote

Kerry

No, it's not your post I'm referring to Kerry, It's my own post in which I'm explaining the actions which the CoC.

Excerpt  I've included, forbids.

The great majority of members do not subscribe to, or encourage vandalism as a means of ridding themselves of intrusive lighting.

However, a few do have a penchant for encouraging such  behaviour.

That minority will be under scrutiny, and would be well advised to abide by the Rule forbidding such action.

The excuse  "I was only Joking", will not be acceptable.

The Mod. Team are fed up with being plagued by this juvenile behaviour, and are committed to eradicating it.

They have better things to do with their valuable time. After all, most are working full time, 

and they would like the job  to be as stress free  as possible. There is a lot of ground to cover on SGL,  and it aint easy.

Ron.

[kerrylewis]

Ok Ron- I understand. I just wanted to be sure that my post had not been misunderstood

[pyrasanth]

My garden is where I do most of my observing. It has 3 Sodium street lights over hanging the north west quadrant of the sky. Not good at all- however this has a happy ending.

 

I reported the issue a month ago to my local council under the faulty street light section of the web site. I complained about the badly shielded lights & they said they would consider the issue. I heard nothing after nearly 3 weeks so I contacted them again through the web. I hinted that I did not want to go to my local MP & complain about light pollution ruining my enjoyment of the sky & the associated physiological damage.

 

My wife telephoned me at work to say that a large maintenance lorry appeared & RESULT- all the sodium lights have been blacked out.

 

If you moan & bitch enough you can get the result you want- everybody has the right to observe the sky as nature intended & I think I scored a little victory for everyone in that direction!