Hampshire CC:Public consultation on turning off streetlights for part of the night

[IanL]

18 hours ago, noah4x4 said:

Colchester Borough Council experimented with having no residential street lights in ''safe' districts after midnight to save energy costs and carbon emissions.  Didn't last long. Now all the borough is again lit up like a Christmas tree given the moans

Incorrect on a number of fronts:

- Part night lighting operates everywhere in Essex with the exception of Harlow, where the local council agreed with the county council that they would fund a return to all night lighting.

- Essex County Council are responsible for all street lighting except trunk roads and motorways which are run by the Highways Agency. So policy and implementation are nothing to do with Colchester Borough Council.

- CBC did offer to pay ECC for a similar scheme to Harlow but fortunately this was rejected.

- So the majority of lights outside the town centre go off between 1AM and 5AM Tues to Sun, and midnight to 5AM on Mondays. Lights on main access roads and major junctions remain on. Increasingly these higher risk locations are going to LED which seems to spill noticeably less sideways and up, though reflected light is not really filterable.

- I quite happily undertake visual astronomy 5.3 miles South of the town centre, views are not as good to the North due to LP, but improve slightly after the switch off. Depends on the weather conditions really, biggest problem being the Military Corrective Cente and the garrison which both spill excessive light in to sky unecessessarily. Views to the East and South over the sea and at the Zenith are pretty good for this part of the world.

- I also observe from a private site 6 miles to the NW of town where there is even less LP.

No location in this part of the world is going to win dark sky reserve status, and we are not going to get back to 1950's conditions, but certainly don't need to travel hundreds of miles to get reasonable observing in. Plenty of countryside within a 15 or 20 min drive.

[SteveNickolls]

10 hours ago, BinocularSky said:

The simple data show that part-night lighting has, in the great majority of instances, led to unchanged or reduced levels of crime and accident rates. The CfDS is currently engaged in an analysis to determine whether it is a true reduction or whether the crime has merely been displaced to other (lit) locations.

We really do need a champion to help publicise the issues surrounding light pollution Steve, y'know someone with (cough) access to the media. You might be talking yourself into it... a whole new career awaits. ? 

Best Regards,
Steve

[PeterW]

The satellite data shows we appear to be getting darker over the past decade or two. Avoiding light near the horizontal is the key thing, stops it spreading across the country.

PEter

[noah4x4]

OK, IanL, it might be ECC and not CBC in control of the switches, but North Colchester light pollution is now shocking and the local street lights in my vicinity are back  all night after residential complaints and new roads being built and others upgraded to connect with the new A12 junction. When I moved there 15 years ago we were surrounded by playing fields and peaceful countryside with rabbits often seen on my lawn and badgers near too. In the last three years 6,000 new houses have been built on my doorstep with more under construction. We briefly did enjoy a switch off, but it didn't last long. But to be fair, the negative impact is probably more to do with the extent of the residential development rather than this single factor. Also growth in residential and commercial security lighting.

Colchester is the fastest growing town in the UK as regards new housing development with most in and around Mile End/Myland (but some in Tollgate), and  probably coming to a 'garden village' site near you too as CBC receives money for every new house constructed and ignores local resident objections . Near me, soon will come the Northern Gateway sports and retail/cinema complex. Already in that location we have a Volkswagon retailer and Toyota retailer with huge illuminated showrooms that are unnecessarily lit all night.  Visual observing from my back yard is already been rendered hopeless, but fortunately, EAA remains feasible.

I would be interested in suggestions where I might trek to find better local skies where it is 'safe' with car parking etc (as I have a load of gear).  I have tried places like Abberton Reservoir car park  but was always disturbed by yobs or courting couples.  My most favoured site is Orford (Suffolk) estuary car park which appears 'safe' but is way beyond Ipswich.  I agree there are potentially  decent skies close by to be found over (say)  Little Horkesley or Birch, but generally nowhere to park. You might be fortunate if your home has not yet been blighted. However, without the aid of a camera, my limit at home is lunar, planets and only the brightest objects (Orion Nebula etc) . But with a camera DSO's that I had never previously seen are now in my grasp. EAA has been my salvation.

[IanL]

On 01/08/2018 at 08:04, noah4x4 said:

OK, IanL, it might be ECC and not CBC in control of the switches, but North Colchester light pollution is now shocking and the local street lights in my vicinity are back  all night after residential complaints and new roads being built and others upgraded to connect with the new A12 junction. When I moved there 15 years ago we were surrounded by playing fields and peaceful countryside with rabbits often seen on my lawn and badgers near too. In the last three years 6,000 new houses have been built on my doorstep with more under construction. We briefly did enjoy a switch off, but it didn't last long. But to be fair, the negative impact is probably more to do with the extent of the residential development rather than this single factor. Also growth in residential and commercial security lighting.

Colchester is the fastest growing town in the UK as regards new housing development with most in and around Mile End/Myland (but some in Tollgate), and  probably coming to a 'garden village' site near you too as CBC receives money for every new house constructed and ignores local resident objections . Near me, soon will come the Northern Gateway sports and retail/cinema complex. Already in that location we have a Volkswagon retailer and Toyota retailer with huge illuminated showrooms that are unnecessarily lit all night.  Visual observing from my back yard is already been rendered hopeless, but fortunately, EAA remains feasible.

I would be interested in suggestions where I might trek to find better local skies where it is 'safe' with car parking etc (as I have a load of gear).  I have tried places like Abberton Reservoir car park  but was always disturbed by yobs or courting couples.  My most favoured site is Orford (Suffolk) estuary car park which appears 'safe' but is way beyond Ipswich.  I agree there are potentially  decent skies close by to be found over (say)  Little Horkesley or Birch, but generally nowhere to park. You might be fortunate if your home has not yet been blighted. However, without the aid of a camera, my limit at home is lunar, planets and only the brightest objects (Orion Nebula etc) . But with a camera DSO's that I had never previously seen are now in my grasp. EAA has been my salvation.

I know exactly what you're talking about with the massive growth in development. When I started commuting back in the mid-90's, you could stand on the station platform and it was all fields to the North, now it's just housing further than the eye can see. I'm surprised that lighting is on in the side-streets, I know that ECC did agree to look at specific locations if it could be shown there was a genuine safety risk, but that wasn't a blanket exemption. You might want to take a look at this:

https://www.essexhighways.org/transport-and-roads/interactive-maps-and-live-travel-information/highways-information-map.aspx

On the left-hand side, under Map Categories -> Assets, tick the "Street Lighting" box and all the lights operated by ECC will be shown, including their part-time (or not) status. It might be that some of the newer developments are not on there if the roads haven't yet been adopted by ECC so the lights will be on all night, but once they are then the same rules should apply in theory. If lights are staying on that the maps say should be off, take it up with your councillor. Also worth knowing that any outdoor lighting can cause a statutory nuisance if it unreasonably affects the use and enjoyment of your private property. So if your neighbours or a business premises have lighting that is intruding on to your property and asking them nicely to sort it out doesn't work, you can ask the council to look in to it as they are required to deal with statutory nuisance.

I also know what you mean about the Abberton Reservoir causeway, as we run regular observing sessions there during the winter, and there have been problems when leaving the site (worse the year before last than this year though).  I live not far from there, and we haven't been blighted, and it seems highly unlikely that there will be any major developments in that area since the roads wouldn't support it. It may be that if the new Bradwell power station goes ahead we will be affected though, since I imagine that will be lit up like Xmas for the many years it will take to build.

With regard to finding a dark site with decent parking, it can be difficult in this part of the world - anywhere accessible tends to attract the usual groups for their nocturnal activities, and one doesn't want to pitch up with expensive gear and have yobs racing motors or others flashing their headlights at each other!

Have you considered joining North Essex Astronomical Society? We have use of an observatory that would be perhaps 20 minutes drive from where you are and is pretty dark, Milky Way easily visible, etc. (though if the West Tey GC goes ahead we expect things will get worse).  Members meet there every Thursday evening without fail, and the observatory is open for members to use under their own steam during the rest of the week as well. There is some parking on site and as well as the permanent scopes, an outside patio area where members set up their own kit (with white and dimmable red lighting and electrical supply).

It's £25 per year for an individual membership and we're a very friendly bunch who welcome beginners through experienced astronomers. Took me years to get around to joining and wish I had done so a lot sooner. Membership details here: https://www.northessexastro.co.uk/members/

 

[PeterW]

Data’s being collected and shows the expected result. Let’s keep the pressure up, maybe turn off earlier?

http://www.surrey-pcc.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/StreetLightingReport.pdf

PEter