Lamp post light pollution good news story

[Sluke321]

Hey all,

I would like to share my experience with some light pollution from a lamp post and how the Council were so efficient in dealing with it.

We have a really bright LED lamp post behind our garden lighting up an alleyway. Regardless of looking at the stars, the light from it is excessive and floods into mine and the neighbours gardens/windows. We can view with our telescope out there but we have to shelter behind an outbuilding so that we are not in the direct beam of light. This hinders what we can look at and can be really frustrating!

 

I thought I would chance my luck and ask the council if they could help in any way. The beam of light enters many gardens and is is quite overwhelming regardless of whether you are trying to use a telescope or not. 
 

I contacted them around 5 days ago to see if there is any way in which they could assist with guards or to even consider turning it off. 
 

I was out in the back garden this afternoon and I noticed the lamp post was being lowered down. I went out to speak to a workman about it. He said they are fitting guards to stop the beam of light entering gardens and also turning the brightness down! 
 

Absolutely fantastic result and all done within the week. I thought it would be a good idea to share my experiences in dealing with the council to highlight there are options out there. You don’t have to give up with stargazing or put up with invasive light on your property. 
 

All I would say is be polite, be constructive and be realistic. The council should do what they can within their budget to help you if they can. 
 

All the best and good luck if anyone else is trying to deal with light pollution from street lights on your property

 

Edited January 13, 2021 by Sluke321

[wulfrun]

That one was a good result then, nice to hear some councils care. Maybe it's time for a name-and-shame/name-and-praise our councils thread?

[F15Rules]

That's a great result, in contrast to the attitude of other councils, sadly.

Perhaps others with less helpful local authorities could be sent details of your case as a "role model" working example?

Dave

[Alan White]

Wow, great result and super fast response on site as well.
Which Council are you under?

As Dave says, a role model example for many other Authorities to follow.

[Tiny Clanger]

24 minutes ago, Sluke321 said:

Hey all,

I would like to share my experience with some light pollution from a lamp post and how the Council were so efficient in dealing with it.

We have a really bright LED lamp post behind our garden lighting up an alleyway. We can view with our telescope out there but we have to shelter behind an outbuilding so we are not in the direct beam of light. This hinders what we can look at and can be really frustrating!

 

I thought I would chance my luck and ask the council if they could help in any way. The beam of light enters many gardens and is is quite overwhelming regardless of whether you are trying to use a telescope or not. 
 

I contacted them around 5 days ago to see if there is any way in which they could assist with guards or to even consider turning it off. 
 

I was out in the back garden this afternoon and I noticed the lamp post was being lowered down. I went out to speak to a workman about it. He said they are fitting guards to stop the beam of light entering gardens and also turning the brightness down! 
 

Absolutely fantastic result and all done within the week. I thought it would be a good idea to share my experiences in dealing with the council to highlight there are options out there. You don’t have to give up with stargazing or put up with invasive light on your property. 
 

All I would say is be polite, be constructive and be realistic. The council should do what they can within their budget to help you if they can. 
 

All the best and good luck if anyone else is trying to deal with light pollution from street lights on your property

 

Excellent result, hope you've  communicated your appreciation directly to the council , the more encouragement they get for this the better !

Heather

[Sluke321]

1 minute ago, Tiny Clanger said:

Excellent result, hope you've  communicated your appreciation directly to the council , the more encouragement they get for this the better !

Heather

I will do. They haven’t even responded to me yet they have just done the work. As soon as they write back I will send my thanks and praises 

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

41 minutes ago, wulfrun said:

That one was a good result then, nice to hear some councils care. Maybe it's time for a name-and-shame/name-and-praise our councils thread?

Liverpool Council are rubbish.

[maw lod qan]

It has taken me two years to get my neighbor, a fire station, two shield two of their three led's.

The one the left is the worst and reflects off the building as well.

I'm glad to hear you had good luck!

[Zermelo]

That's a great result, I will be interested to hear which LA this is.

I'm still more interested in the fact that the brightness of this light could be adjusted (relatively) easily. I think requests to LAs are more effective if accompanied by some suggestions of specific, practical actions. I've seen letter templates from CfDS and others that point out all the disbenefits of LED street lighting, but I've not seen anything along the lines of "I see you've just installed lighting product <XYZ>, are you aware that you can do <ABC> to moderate the impact?".  Or better still, "I see you're considering converting my street to LEDs, can I suggest that if you go ahead, you consider product <DEF>, which has much less blue light than some others on the market?"  Yes, fitting shields after the event may be helpful, but even better if they select units with no sideways leakage, minimum effective brightness and <3000K.

[Dean Hale]

I've had no luck with Sunderland council. I have 2 LED streetlights one to the west and one to the north both around 12 metres on the other side of the road.

Basically told nothing they could do as they were fitted before we moved here around 2 years ago and if it was an issue why did i not complain then. Explaining that I didn't do astronomy at that point didn't wash. It's an hobby so not essential. The light does actually intrude into the house so tried using this to try and maybe have shades fitted and was then told to shut the curtains.

Edited January 13, 2021 by Dean Hale

[Jiggy 67]

Great result, goes to show that some authorities can be considerate.

Our back garden backs onto a wood owned by United Utilities and the trees can be quite high restricting my view to the west. I contacted them explaining the problem and my hobby. A few days later a guy came round to take a look, identifying a few of the higher trees and within a couple of weeks they had been lopped.......You don’t get if you don’t ask

[Stuf1978]

Great news OP 👍

14 hours ago, Dean Hale said:

I've had no luck with Sunderland council. I have 2 LED streetlights one to the west and one to the north both around 12 metres on the other side of the road.

Basically told nothing they could do as they were fitted before we moved here around 2 years ago and if it was an issue why did i not complain then. Explaining that I didn't do astronomy at that point didn't wash. It's an hobby so not essential. The light does actually intrude into the house so tried using this to try and maybe have shades fitted and was then told to shut the curtains.

I didn't have any luck with Sunderland council either. I have a bright LED street light directly behind my fence to the back of the house which illuminates most of my garden and there is another to the side which although annoying is less troublesome. They said they could install shields but that the weren't going to do it because they are pretty much useless on the new style of street lighting. They do dim them at 10pm then again at midnight but tbh it makes no difference. I have considered putting up my own shield on the light to the back of the house but I can see it just being removed. 

Edited January 14, 2021 by Stuf1978

[DanWri]

16 hours ago, Sluke321 said:

Hey all,

I would like to share my experience with some light pollution from a lamp post and how the Council were so efficient in dealing with it.

We have a really bright LED lamp post behind our garden lighting up an alleyway. Regardless of looking at the stars, the light from it is excessive and floods into mine and the neighbours gardens/windows. We can view with our telescope out there but we have to shelter behind an outbuilding so that we are not in the direct beam of light. This hinders what we can look at and can be really frustrating!

 

I thought I would chance my luck and ask the council if they could help in any way. The beam of light enters many gardens and is is quite overwhelming regardless of whether you are trying to use a telescope or not. 
 

I contacted them around 5 days ago to see if there is any way in which they could assist with guards or to even consider turning it off. 
 

I was out in the back garden this afternoon and I noticed the lamp post was being lowered down. I went out to speak to a workman about it. He said they are fitting guards to stop the beam of light entering gardens and also turning the brightness down! 
 

Absolutely fantastic result and all done within the week. I thought it would be a good idea to share my experiences in dealing with the council to highlight there are options out there. You don’t have to give up with stargazing or put up with invasive light on your property. 
 

All I would say is be polite, be constructive and be realistic. The council should do what they can within their budget to help you if they can. 
 

All the best and good luck if anyone else is trying to deal with light pollution from street lights on your property

 

 Unbelievably suprising that not only did they listen to you, but were so quick to respond to your issues. Your council deserves a lot of praise for this. Congratulations on the reduction of light pollution!

Edited January 14, 2021 by DanWri

[stubeeef]

Might be nice to see exactly what you said and any evidence you supplied them? Sometimes just a pinch of sugar goes a long way.

Congrats! I'm stateside but my small cul-de-sac wanted to light up- I just told them I wouldn't pay the bill and would smash mine every time they cut it on in front of my house.....it worked. I'm moving to a neighborhood (when costs drop) that requires lights out by 11pm for wildlife (sounds great to me-I can get wild after 11pm too).

I know IDA has lots of resources to download and can give out great info to help you. If you need some help-send them an email-its free.

Again, congrats!

Edited January 19, 2021 by stubeeef

[Ships and Stars]

1 hour ago, stubeeef said:

Might be nice to see exactly what you said and any evidence you supplied them? Sometimes just a pinch of sugar goes a long way.

Congrats! I'm stateside but my small cul-de-sac wanted to light up- I just told them I wouldn't pay the bill and would smash mine every time they cut it on in front of my house.....it worked. I'm moving to a neighborhood (when costs drop) that requires lights out by 11pm for wildlife (sounds great to me-I can get wild after 11pm too).

I know IDA has lots of resources to download and can give out great info to help you. If you need some help-send them an email-its free.

Again, congrats!

I was reading about the dark sky village out in Arizona, they only have one rule: 'turn off your god ---- lights!'

The only exterior lighting that's allowed are red lamps from what I recall.

My kind of place, though probably hellishly hot in summer and a long way to the beach

Still...

[stubeeef]

FYI parts of South Arizona are close to Mexican beaches 

Edited January 19, 2021 by stubeeef

[Cyril]

Our council quickly put a shade on the new  LED street light that lit our house and the hillside behind it, but my neighbours bathroom lights all night, if I ask he will pit them off, but not his wife, from dusk to dawn.