Cos everyone loves rugby! Darn light pollution!

[EA2007]

Hey kids,

Here's a brilliant example of light pollution from my neck of the woods. The white light you can see in the image below comes from 8 floodlights at the local rugby club nearly 1/2 a mile away. It must be said that the floodlighting can be seen from about 6 miles away........

Unsurprisingly the local district council have proposed plans to insert around 964 houses, along with some business buildings and a link road around the area of the rugby club, aswell as upgrading the club to a full-flow football club for the local town, so the light pollution is going to increase quite abit. Luckily the build shouldn't go ahead, and if it does then it shan't be until about 2020.

(click to enlarge)

[kniclander]

but presumably they're only on 1 or 2 evenings a week for a couple of hours?

[Stephen Green]

We have a similar problem with a sixth form college near us, whose games field is floodlit after dark, lighting up the sky to the south until about 11pm. This goes on up to 4 times a week.

Stephen

[Tiny]

The college/school near us actually put floodlit all weather pitches right along one side next to houses and even cut the houses hedges down on their (the houses) side to get more room. It turns out they didn't bother with planning permission for any of this but when the householders complained about, noise, lights and so on well after 10-30pm at night they were told that the 'impovements to college facilities' would get retro permission as the college board is mostly councillors and anyway - kids come first.

[EA2007]

I get what your saying 'kniclander'............however, my quarrel is two fold:

1) Surely the sensible option is to play rugby during summer, that way there is more natural lighting well up until 9pm. Also, it shan't be as cold, therefore better for the players (no injuries sustained from cold contact) and better for the spectators. Also, the company / persons that run the rugby wouldn't have to fork out money for oldstyle inefficient lighting. I dread to think what its like living in one of the houses nearby, be like a concentration camp I would reckon.

2) But secondly and more importantly my issue is with the proposed building of a new football ground, I agree with you that the rugby is only a few nights a week and even then its not over consecutive weeks. However, if a new football ground is built the site will be used much more regularly, not only for matches but for training aswell. The local football team is higher in there league than the rugby and they play more often, therefore it is inevitable that the lights will be on more often. Again, there seems an inability to have these matches at a sensible time...think about how much energy and money they would save by playing during the summer months around 6/7pm!

This, along with the proposed 964 houses and link road will create a fair whack of light pollution, something none of us want!

[Tiny]

I don't get who needs all these houses. Round us there are tons of empty ones yet the government has ordered the councils to provide thousands more. And the councils seemed just love more building.

[Coco]

The college/school near us actually put floodlit all weather pitches right along one side next to houses and even cut the houses hedges down on their (the houses) side to get more room. It turns out they didn't bother with planning permission for any of this but when the householders complained about, noise, lights and so on well after 10-30pm at night they were told that the 'impovements to college facilities' would get retro permission as the college board is mostly councillors and anyway - kids come first.

Well I've heard the language on the football side lines and I can sympathise.

Sorry but that's not children that's playing 'pub' 7 a side football.

.Guy

[kniclander]

I get what your saying 'kniclander'............however, my quarrel is two fold:

1) Surely the sensible option is to play rugby during summer, that way there is more natural lighting well up until 9pm. Also, it shan't be as cold, therefore better for the players (no injuries sustained from cold contact) and better for the spectators. Also, the company / persons that run the rugby wouldn't have to fork out money for oldstyle inefficient lighting. I dread to think what its like living in one of the houses nearby, be like a concentration camp I would reckon.

2) But secondly and more importantly my issue is with the proposed building of a new football ground, I agree with you that the rugby is only a few nights a week and even then its not over consecutive weeks. However, if a new football ground is built the site will be used much more regularly, not only for matches but for training aswell. The local football team is higher in there league than the rugby and they play more often, therefore it is inevitable that the lights will be on more often. Again, there seems an inability to have these matches at a sensible time...think about how much energy and money they would save by playing during the summer months around 6/7pm!

This, along with the proposed 964 houses and link road will create a fair whack of light pollution, something none of us want!

you have my sympathy EA2007.

btw, you can't play rugby in summer (or when it's very very cold) cos the ground is too hard.

from your original post it read as if the football club and the rugby club would share the same ground but you're right - there might well be lights on most nights if that's the case. However, I suspect more people will benefit from the sports facilities than will suffer from the LP. IMHO loss of sports faclilities is really one of the disappointing things about this country over the last 20 odd years.

My understanding is you can get floodlights that direct most of the light down - maybe that's the tack you need to take if you want to protest. I hope you can achieve something but even if not, there are still lots of things to see in LP'd skies :? .

Finally, I don't think that living in a house nearby would be "like a concentration camp". Nothing like a concentration camp at all. :nono:

Dan

[nitram100]

I don't get who needs all these houses. Round us there are tons of empty ones yet the government has ordered the councils to provide thousands more. And the councils seemed just love more building.

I could hazard a guess but it wouldn't be very PC.

[narrowbandpaul]

golf has no floodlights.

cant they just play when its light outside, they get all this free light from the sun, but they insist on wasting oil and gas to generate the leccy.

councils generally couldnt give a Rubbish about light pollution, they are too busy constantly repairing potholes.

[Tiny]

Last night paper reported that our local borough council made a presentation to the local parish council that light pollution it ruining our night sky and outside lights must be strictly controlled as,

'Every person has a right to see the milky way.'

This statement and the presentation is a total odds to the local councils own planning officers who put no limitations on outside lights as a local found when he complained about a nearby person who floodlights his farm and shines lights into all his neighbours houses. (And these lights must be pretty powerful as the nearest neighbour is 400yards away!) The officers had no problem with the lights.

Incidentally one wonders if the councils sudden conversion to dark skies is not unlike retiring politicians who are finally able to tell the truth and admit that in the past... for this borough council is being swallowed in a Unitary in a few months with loads of seats and dosh in the Unitary up for grabs (minimum fee per unitary councillor - £12,000)

[EA2007]

wait a minute.............your saying that a council, a council of this fine United Kingdom, Kingdom of all Kingdom's where we strive to be the best in every are of life, where every government does the best for its people and local governments and councils never waste money on conferences and bonus's.....your telling me that for once they are actually taking an interest in doing something useful and worthwhile!?

Nah, there must be a drawback......are pigs flying in your part of the country, or have your councillors finally got hearing aids and managed to understand decency and grown a heart at last, giving up the powerful need to line their own pockets?

Wow!

[narrowbandpaul]

i too am shocked by this..a council who believes in dark skies.

isnt it the mission statement for all councils to 'be as annoying and in the way as possible, and cover any attempt forimprovement in bureaucratic red tape'

"no, you cant add a second floor to your house, but we will build 60new houses infront of you"

paul

[Tiny]

No - most will retire when the new unitary starts so I reckon they are demob happy. Unfortunately the (jobsworths) council planning officers (who make the rules) are all moving to the unitary. So it will be business as usual for those who wish to pollute with the blessing of the officers who maintain they are only doing what government rules tell them to do ie nowt.