Help I'm trying to get council to shield light

[MrGoatsmilk]

I have been trying since March 09 to get the private company that have the contract to maintain the lights on the road near my home to fit a shield but they are being very unhelpful.

I have been in contact with the county councillor who is being very helpful. He has even emailed the local astronomy society for their opinion on shielding lights, they gave a strange reply that was neither for or against.

What I need are some good news stories showing that shielding does work, with photo's if possible, it's not the up light I need shielded but the light that is shining on my eyepiece and into my eye that is causing the problems. I get reflections on the eyepiece if it is behind or to the side, if facing the other way I get light direct from the lamp post bouncing into my scope, without this the sky is not too bad at all.

The councillor has asked for this type of story to strengthen my case and he will then try to make them see sense. I have stated that I will pay for the shield. But the person I have spoken with via e-mail comes across as very anti astronomer.

Thanks in advance

Stu

[Jrunci]

shoot the bulb out witj air rifle

[brianb]

It's quite straight forward, no-one has any right to shine a light onto your property if you consider the light to be a nuisance. You can't prevent them from lighting the road but (in England & Wales) they have a statutory duty to fit shielding if unwanted light is spilling onto your property & you complain about it.

[samtheeagle]

Stu, not wanting to rub it in but I found that getting the street light next to my garden fence sorted out was quite easy. I sent an email or two to the local council until I was speaking to the correct person from the highways department, and then followed up after a month or so to make sure that it hadn't been forgotten. Maybe 6 weeks later or so I came home to find that a strip of black paint had been applied to one end of the street light

I said to them that the light was shining directly into our bedroom, and that it was a nuisance, sent a google maps link to help locate the offending item and that was that.

I guess I got lucky with my council?

[MrGoatsmilk]

Brian,

I have quoted the light trespass issue and have got nowhere with that, even though it does light up my garden. Is this law or just guidelines do you know?

Sam,

it's not rubbing it in at all it's good to hear that not all are as bad as the private company who have the contract here. The annoying thing is that the next village have a lamp post that has been shielded and they pay their council tax to the same council as I do.

Stu

[Starflyer]

You could have a look around the CfDS site, this page looks promising but your argument would most likely carry more weight if the light is shining into a bedroom.

You could try contacting your local CfDS officer for more advice.

Good luck with it

Ian

[MrGoatsmilk]

Cheers Ian

I have been reading the cfds site and it seems that street lighting is a very grey area as it's not from a premises, I think making contact with a local officer is worth a go as it's gone beyond the point of me wanting to give up any time soon.

Regards

Stuart

[Mick UK]

stuart, i have 2 street lights that shine into my back garden, i was going to contact the council but personaly i think it would have fallen on deaf ears, so i decided to get a tin of "silver" smooth Hamerite paint and i attached a emmulsion roller to the end of a very long pole and at 3am i dipped the roller into the paint and sneaked out and painted the lights! (only the part that shines into my garden tho) Job sorted!

I used the silver paint so that when its daylight you cant see it on the lights, so untill a bulb lows no one will know its there;)

My back garden is now in complete darkness!

[MrGoatsmilk]

stuart, i have 2 street lights that shine into my back garden, i was going to contact the council but personaly i think it would have fallen on deaf ears, so i decided to get a tin of "silver" smooth Hamerite paint and i attached a emmulsion roller to the end of a very long pole and at 3am i dipped the roller into the paint and sneaked out and painted the lights! (only the part that shines into my garden tho) Job sorted!

I used the silver paint so that when its daylight you cant see it on the lights, so untill a bulb lows no one will know its there;)

My back garden is now in complete darkness!

I was thinking of something similar, was thinking gaffer tape, but I think I will have to have a serious look at this, after all it's been a while since I spoke to them and no doubt I have been forgotten about by now. Like the silver paint colour idea, would hide nicely!

Regards

Stu

[David Pavlich]

The town I live in has passed a law that requires shielded lights. It was through the efforts of one of our club members. He was able to prove that shielded lighting requires less energy because the light is concentrated downward. There for, since you aren't trying to illuminate the incoming aircraft, less wattage is needed. However, I live about 200 yards OUTSIDE of the incorporated part of town. So....we have unshielded streetlights. But...

I sent a nice letter to the power company asking about shielding. I told them exactly which lights were the most offending, one at the end of my driveway. Nothing happened for several weeks, but I came home one night from the shop and holy cow! Both lights were shielded! I wrote a very nice thank you. Since then, several club members have done the same thing with the same results. I guess if you pay your bills regularly, they will do a favor.

David

[MrGoatsmilk]

I wish it was as simple as paying the bills regularly all mine are Direct Debit and that has not helped at all. It's more luck of the draw from what I can see and who is the one who makes the decision at the other end sat in an office.

[barkis]

A friend of mine was successful when he applied to the local Council to have an annoying light shielded. He simply told them that his telescope was part of an educational facility, that was used to show night sky objects to the local children. If they refused, he would start a campaign in the local press.

An engineer arrived at his home, asking how he would like the shield positioned. Job Done..

Ron.

[beamish]

Try Starflyers' suggestion and contact the CfDS, very helpful. The local officer may be able to pen a letter either for you or on your behalf, will hopefully be more au fait with what the legal responsibilities are too.

If all else fails shoot the [removed word] out !

[Space Bat]

This is when climate change bandwagon jumping comes into your favour I would argue green and cost cutting....etc

Arguing that it annoys your viewing won't go down at all - its all about money - perception of using money and the fact spending (Wasting) money is a council epidemic - where to guarantee continued level of funding - they insure they spend (Waste) it, so street improvments such as new pointless roundabouts, sleeping policeman, road relayout, bus lanes and lighting are all soft spends that go on year on year that actually do no benefit other than to insure they get the same pot of money again.

BBC NEWS | England | South Yorkshire | Council ponders lights switch-off

Essex lights out project extends

[astronomer]

hi all in weymouth they have been putting new

street light up now for about 2 years,when they mark ares tobe

done i was over the moon but the beam from them lite up my

garden and the lamp up the raod from me about 60m was to bright

so i phoned the firm who installed them and within 2 weeks they

had put shades on both and asked me if they were ok.no light in my garden at

all now.just to let you know that they do help.....astronomer

[m.tweedy]

I listed various bits on this thread

http://stargazerslounge.com/suggestions/90955-light-pollution.html

the final one is useful as this is the one I quoted from when I had a problem