Fight against light pollution

[robindurant]

Last week our local Brighton paper the Argus published a full page on light pollution explaining that West Sussex had agreed to turn out many street lights after Midnight to reduce energy levels and pollution and that East Sussex should follow suit. It also went on to say that the Milky Way had not been seen in East Sussex since 1984. I replied to this article and today they published it. I spoke of the Astronomy problems and had a picture included. Whether anyone on the Council will do anything about it is another matter. A while ago I had published another similar article regarding the many Offices in Brighton who keep their lights on all night and mention one certain large Solicitors as one of them I noticed the other night that this Office had its light turned out. Small victory !

Robin

[jgs001]

Robin, That sounds great news. I hadn't realised W Sussex had agreed that, although there are a fair number of street lights that do go out along my road. Congrats on getting published and I hope you get movement on things. I guess small victories add up in the end. I guess I need to write to the school behind me about their security lights they have blazing all night...

[steppenwolf]

Well done, Robin, perhaps you could ask permission from the newspaper to reproduce the article here - I am sure that like me, many others would like to read it?

[Paxo]

Well done Robin. I think there may be many small batlles to be won (and probably a few lost along the way) before the battle is won on this one. In my local area (South Tyneside), the local council have replaced much of the old streetlighting with more efficient downlighters, and I must say it has made a noticeable difference when your out driving where you can see the majority of light goes downover. However, they have gone from narrowband sodium/mercury based lamps to wideband white light making observing even more of a challenge.

[robindurant]

Hi Steve

I will get a copy from the Argus, I don't need their permission as it was my article.

Robin

[AstroTiger]

way to go. Perhaps other areas will follow suit

[Pip]

Well done :hello1:

Hopefully more local councils will do something similar and then we can all get a better skies

[AstroTiger]

and so the fight will continue Master Pip

May the force be with you!

clear skies

[Baskii]

Buckinghamshire County Council have been trialing a street lighting switch-off after midnight in some areas. The reasoning behind this appears to be to save money and reduce carbon emissions, although the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) have pointed out that the reduction in light pollution is a benefit in itself. Naturally though there has been a backlash by people complaining that it will make the roads more dangerous - I guess you can't please everybody.

[James]

Perhaps we should be asking councils/other organisatiosn to prove that the absence of streetlights is actually dangerous rather than letting them just go on assumptions. The few studies I've heard of are often ambiguous and I've heard that one or two actually suggest streetlights can 'cause' crime problems.

Need to go and find them now - I wish I was still a student as this would make a fantastic dissertation subject.

James

[robindurant]

In reply to Steve I have attached a resume of the long article in our newspaper and the reply I gave. Sorry its long reading.

Robin

" No one in Sussex has been able to gaze up at the Milky Way since the Eighties and we are in the grip of seasonal depression. Why? Blame the streetlights, say campaigners who are calling for them all to be switched off after midnight. Simon Barrett reports.

When the clocks strike midnight, thousands of street lights automatically switch off across West Sussex.

Three years ago, West Sussex County Council went to all 161 parishes under its jurisdiction and let them choose whether or not to leave street lights on all night.

Supporters say reducing nighttime lighting is a major step towards hitting energy targets as well as making large financial savings for county councils.

Yet in neighbouring East Sussex, fewer than a dozen street lights are turned off at night.

Council officials fear turning lights off could increase crime and put lives at risk.

Now the South Downs Joint Committee (SDJC), the conservation group which manages the protected area, says the street light scheme should be extended further in West Sussex and rolled out into East Sussex.

The committee is calling for the re-establishment of a "baseline of tranquillity", which they believe is being destroyed by the blanket of lighting across the county.

They say light pollution means we may never see a natural dark sky over the Downs again.

Phil Belden, countryside services manager for the SDJC, said: "Put simply, the night sky is being ruined by artificial light. Nobody in Sussex has been able to see the Milky Way since the Eighties.

"As more villages and towns expand, the problem is only getting worse."

Reply.

I fully back the South Downs Joint Committee in suggesting the the light levels in East Sussex should be reduced, Argus 1st February, West Sussex did it why not East Sussex. As an amateur Astronomer I, like others in Brighton suffer badly with light pollution.

From my home in Withdean I look over Brighton and describe it as a big Bonfire of light. I take digital images with a Camera of space objects and the pictures turn out with an orange glow to them despite using expensive pollution Filters. I have not seen the Milky Way at all from my site but attach a picture taken from outside of Brighton to show just what we could see from East Sussex.area.

I recently had published a letter in the Argus with a photo of Offices in the City that leave all their lights on over night. I got headline status with the photo and expected many replies in support. What did I get, nothing. Does anyone even care. There is much talk about reducing lighting energy output but the main culprits ignore the pleas. There is a National campaign by the Astronomical world to reduce lighting, lets do it in East Sussex, look up and wonder at the beauty of the Heavens.

I also included an image of the Milky Way

[steppenwolf]

Excellent, Robin let us hope it doesn't fall on deaf ears ......

[Tiny]

We had our local final meeting of our group creating our Village Design Statement and got the following point inserted. We expected opposition but the light lovers were having a cat fight and it was passed before they noticed.

• Outside lighting should have cut-off reflectors so that light only shines downwards and the light should be kept within the boundaries of the property concerned. Lighting should only be on when in use for people to see by and not left on for hours or overnight to pollute the environment.

Unfortunately it doesn't mean much as the defense for any amount of lighting is 'minimum necessary' under the latest act. And the above in the VDS only applies to new housing, not street lights or businesses and is not retrospective.

While collecting ammo for our meeting we found there is a lot of info on this subject on the britastro campaign for dark skies pages www.britastro.org/dark-skies/floodlights.html.

Also a government think tank came up with a lot of stuff which is published as a 80 page document on HMgov website and includes the statement that members of the public have a vital role as they are responsible, not only for the lighting of their properties...they can contribute in other ways, for instance by participating in 'local lights' schemes and in preparation of Village Design Statements that will influence lighting proposals in the locality.

A DEFRA document states that Around properties low powered lights are normally sufficient & create less shadow and nuisance to others. Lighting that is shielded and/or angled down can actually improve security. Where movement detectors are used these should only activate and light people on the property. Timers adjusted to minimum can reduce the operation of the lights. Should the lights cause complaint it is not reasonable to leave the solution and the cost of it to the complainant rather than the perpetrator.

One downside to this is the statement in the latest version of light nuisance law that light pollution and light nuisance are not the same thing under our current laws.

With this in mind it is a matter of "Small steps Ellie."