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A Fudge Less Sweet


SteveNickolls

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I thought some SGL members would be interested to know what's happening in Nottinghamshire on the subject of street lighting at night. I got to hear today from our local councillor that Notts County Council have cancelled any future plans for switching off all street lights. They had previously planned to switch off lights in residential areas between midnight and 5.00AM. Seems too many residents were concerned about road safety and increased risk of crime. To my knowledge no one entered into a dialogue with the public to inform and challenge misconceptions over the issues-not councillors, not the council ,not the police or the media. The U-turn to stop the programme of turning off and dimming of street lighting across the county was part of the manifesto of the party now in overall power.

Instead the council are now planning to dim main road lighting between 10.00PM and 7.00AM following trials which have shown hardly any difference to vision when the lights are dimmed. Two local residential street trials around here have also had new white led lighting fitted in columns (I would say the new columns are roughly 10 feet higher than the current ones so they will illuminate parts of previously ‘dark’ back gardens) and which do leave the sky above looking darker. The police will be consulted in case any area is judged ‘unsuitable’ for dimming. The council is also introducing the modern led lights which are energy efficient and last up to 25 years, saving on maintenance costs.

It will be interesting to see how this fudge turns out in practice and whether the night sky will in fact become darker.

Cheers,

Steve

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Would like darker skies as much as the rest of us, however look at it from the other side:

People drive cars along roads during daylight and manage to neither slow down or drive round very large pot holes in the road then sue the council.

Pedestrians walk along a pavement somhow seem to trip on a paving slap that is 3mm higher then the adjacent one and again sue the council.

I know of one person killed and to find the body they had to turn the road lights on, the coroner said that switching lights off contributed to the death.

This money paid out is from the council tax we all pay.

So without fail some people and every no-win-no-fee claim companies will be contemplating how much they can make from these accidents that can happen in the dark.

To a greater extent then anything I guess the councils are covering their backside.

Good lighting along the roads is cetainly going to decrease road accidents, you can simply see more/better (I know that from simple experience), crime I suspect is no real difference. So the summ of these is It is better.

Afraid astronomy doesn't come well down the list of priorities, it simply isn't on the list of priorities as far a council is concerned. Add in a councilor will listen to the majority, they want reelected the next time round.

No doubt not what people here want to hear but that is the reality.

The solution, suppose there isn't one, except get out of town. Either permanently or temporarily.

If permanent then check there is no chance of a housing development near in the next 10 years.

But one thing is sure: Living in a town means living with light pollution.

What did the council say when you contacted them over the matter?

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" To a greater extent then anything I guess the councils are covering their backside." I would say this is the long and short of it. The supplying electricity company may also have 'persuaded' councils to keep the lights on. Should imagine it would knock a big hole in their balance sheet if all councils decided to turn off lights at night ? Not as I want to start a conspiracy theory :rolleyes:  :smiley:   

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ronin What did the council say when you contacted them over the matter?

Hi, thanks ronin. My previous posts on the subject of street lighting will explain my involvement locally in some detail. Briefly the staff have been excellent in firstly setting out a well considered street light turn-off/dimming programme and kept in touch over developments until recently. The local county elections last year sounded the end for the programme of turning off most street lights/dimming the rest. Sky at Night magazine did a large article on light pollution after suggesting to them the topic and they mentioned the Notts scheme in the article so it's a pity things have turned out this way. The local radio have only reported negatively seeking out the political whenever possible, no dialogue of issues which is another shame to it all and I did point out to that their stance did not follow that of Stargazing Live (nationally) which tried to show the effects of turning off lighting (pity then that it poured with rain).

Anyway the current proposals are a bit of a U-turn in themselves as the whole programme was meant to be mothballed. Hopefully then main street lights off after 10.00PM will have some impact on local light pollution, I will certainly be monitoring for any improvements.

Cheers,

Steve

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