Who has had success with street lighting?

[EA2007]

Hello all,

As the title suggests, has anyone had any luck with having their local councils either shield or turn off some nearby street lighting?

Today I sent an e-mail to the local council where I live; Hambleton, North Yorkshire asking for them to possibly shade two street lights nearby which shine in on the house and back garden. I noted in the e-mail that other councils had done similar things....just wondered if anyone knew of any good news?

I hope they do something, I rather enjoyed writing that e-mail, whoever reads it should find it accurate yet amusing!!

[adamsp123]

yes I did but I found out the name and number of the right person to talk to, and had a friendly chat and ask as a favour if it was possible to put a shield up to stop the light getting into my bedroom. 2 weeks later job done, I phoned back to thank him much to his surprise.

[Brett]

Ive tried buy my local authority HILLINGDON didn't even have the decency to reply to any of my emails. Thankfully the streetlights along my road have now all been upgraded and only shine light directly on the road and footpath and not outwards. I just wish my neighbors would`t leave their 500w floodlights running from dusk till dawn !!!

Brett

[AstroTiger]

I just wish my neighbors would`t leave their 500w floodlights running from dusk till dawn !!!

Brett

Have you tried speaking to them about it?

If not i believe there is a law against it now.

[EA2007]

Hey guys (and girls)

Yeah its an interesting topic, its one thing to get the council to make some changes but if you have some random light a few houses away or next door blaring out thousands of watt's of light then it may be more tricky.

Good to know that they may do something about it. I shall keep you posted.

Personally i don't see the need for them, besides me being an astronomer (its official btw, i have a degree in it ) then its just a blatant waste of energy. We have a new business park near town and the orange glow is there all night, half the buildings are derelict and its only offices so no-one uses it past 5pm. Makes you wonder who comes up with these ideas. Studies show that crime rates do not increase in areas where lighting is reduced / not present.

[Brett]

Have you tried speaking to them about it?

If not i believe there is a law against it now.

Ive dropped subtle hints in the past like telling them about my hobby and how bad the light pollution is in the area but it didn't sink in unfortunately Another problem is I just don't know them well enough to ask directly, we have a few undesirable characters near us and I wouldn't want to cause any trouble. Saying this, things wouldn't be so bad if they had their lights angled towards the ground rather than across the 150ft lawn which backs end on to our garden. Its like having my very own sun at 3am in the morning.

Brett

[Brett]

Studies show that crime rates do not increase in areas where lighting is reduced / not present.

If anything the light will help them navigate their escape route without tripping over and breaking their neck Shame.

[EA2007]

that's kinda what i put in my e-mail to them, ha ha.

the council will either find the e-mail annoying or funny.

[AstroTiger]

Yes, it amazes me, not to mention the hypocrisy of the whole thing.

We are asked to reuse carrier bags to save the environment

To turn TV's and DVD's OFF at night and not leave on standby

We are asked to ensure we boil just enough water for a coffee.

But business's and local government are free to waste what must be trillions of watts of electricity by throwing it into the night sky.

Night time maps of the earth showing all the cities, are seen as being pretty rather than a measure of the amount of energy waisted.

This is why i have little respect for so called "energy saving" since its clearly not across the board.

The carbon footprint of towns and cities does not seem to matter, just humble joe bloggs is being taxed and penalised.

For the record, with the floodlights, if its interfering with your life you can take the matter to court. Light is not permitted to trespass your property. As i recall it.

Ok, rant over, you can tell i am an officer for the Campaign for Darker Skies. LP, ruddy hate the stuff.

on a brighter note, i invited my local MP to a star party, hopefully he will see the pros to darker skies after that.

Darren and Organisaers of Kelling and Keilder, see if you can get an MP interested in coming to a SP, you never can tell. :-)

Feel better for that rant now.

[EA2007]

i know how you feel astrotiger

if any of the three main parties hint at cutting LP they get my vote!

[Euan]

I've (almost) had a success, but I don't want to tempt fate by telling about it yet. If I do I will post it up.

Bottom line is, don't email, that is a complete waste of time. Start making phone calls and find who is the right person to speak to.

[George]

I cant wait for the local councilors to come knocking on my door asking for my vote, Ive wrote umpteen emails to Stockport council about how they harp on about being a GREEN council, I even suggested they drive past their own town hall and offices to see what utter wastage is going on every night.

Needless to say I have yet to get a reply.....roll on May 6th.

[skye at night]

Have you tried speaking to them about it?

If not i believe there is a law against it now.

Always surprises me how often we get the 'have you tried talking to them...' line here on SGL..

Yes it would be ideal (and not my worry at present, though may be moving, as I have nothing but forest and sea around me) but from previous experience of urban dwelling.. the neighbours who used such things didn't much care about who or what they were disturbing... Had I complained to one particularly nasty set of 'next doors' we had then they would have delighted in what they were doing and not only upgraded the bulbs, but probably have added more and set them on permanent...

Talking might work in some cases, but should it suit them, your neighbours know exactly how to 'spanner up' your hobby.

Steve

[AstroTiger]

It is true, a friend of mine on here is hindered by Floodlghts as well.

I wonder how much extra it must cost to have one of those things on 12 hours a night every night. Cant be cheap.

I tried campaigning in Northampton when some local kids tried to lobby to have the xmas tree lights turned off at night - to "save the environment"

They made such a hoohar about it on the radio about what a great idea it was, i emailed the radio to ask, what about the 500W flootlit church sitting behind it. Around 4 i counted.

I got a phone call about it from a journalist. I lost my chance there should have taken her out to show her the point i was making. Floodlights not only shining all night, but UPWARDS not downwards!

I am sure these churches also have their "roof fund". Strange, cut back on the floodlights, they might actually be able to afford to repair it!

And off i go a ranting again lol Sorry, its my biggest bug bare. I have about 4 street lights covering every major angle where i live (i guess the fact we sit right on a public footpath does not help)

So as you can see with the best kit in the world, still scuppered. Thats why i am the advocate for robotic telescopes that iam.

on a brighter note, i am meeting the local mp for a pint after may 6th, perhaps i can convince him, make an astronomer of him first then see what another MP lobbying against LP can do for us.

Carbon Footprint, my behind.

Sorry lads, i've just done it again, havn't i lol, right i'm off to water the plants.

[greenninja]

My Neighbours have more llights on their house than I have inside mine. 4 laterns mounted to the back wall, 3 security lights on their shed (covering all three directions, can't be too careful you know). 2 lanterns (three bulbs on a pole) in their front gaden and numerous spotlights illuminating plants (I mean plants, what's the point of that?)

Fortunatley they've not had all the ones at the back on (I think they haven't been "entertaining" over the winter). One of spotlights does trigger if I walk to one side of the garden (which floods my garden with light).

They're nice enough, but I'm not sure I can talk to them about it as they seem to have spent as much on lights as I did my scope.

It does get worse though - we moved in at the same time (both new builds) and through some kind if adminstrative error our meter number got swapped - we were paying their electricity bill for six months!!

[skye at night]

on a brighter note, i am meeting the local mp for a pint after may 6th, perhaps i can convince him, make an astronomer of him first then see what another MP lobbying against LP can do for us.

Carbon Footprint, my behind.

secure seat is it?

Steve

[James]

Taunton is a tight marginal between the Tories and the Libdems so it'll be interesting to see what each candidate has to say.... The reality is that it's nothing to do with the MP though - here it's down to the local councils planning dept and Highways :-/

[Breakintheclouds]

*Is* there a law against light pollution? Because if so, I can really have some fun. They recently built a big new courthouse about 500 m from my house. Its car park (for the lawyers and judges - not the accused) is incredibly brightly lit all night. The fact that the car park is totally empty and locked in by 12-foot high fences doesn't seem to deter them from keeping it nicely lit.

So if there is a law, I'll have great delight in informing our local judiciary...

[tmarkuk]

I'm on my second attempt to get Basingstoke council to put a shield on the light over my garden. Previously it was a old style orange light, which broke all the time and really wasn't that annoying, but the council wanted to charge me £127 to put a shield on it.

They went and changed it to an insanely bright white light last year and I am still pushing to have something done with it without much luck. Last night I found a section of old roll / camping sleep mat fits over it perfectly and can be put up with a pole, so that is at least a nice easy fix.

My neighbour at least has been very helpful in sorting out his rear security light to stop it coming on every time I walk down my garden!

[nicnac]

my labour MP didnt even respond to my letter, shall NOT be voting for the ignorant and rude.

[skye at night]

too busy kissing babies....

S

[Hypernova]

I've got problems with LP in my area.

There's still the issue of the car park floodlight owned by the local housing association that even after promising to come out at least 3 times, still shines into my garden.

The couple of orange street lights that peek over the top of the fence

My neighbour's conservatory light which again over tops the fence and bathes my garden in light.

And my other neighbour whose bathroom light proves and nuisance.

Not forgetting the couple of private garden floodlights around.

Not really the ideal location for observing and even more so because i don't have a car to move to a better site.

[EA2007]

mixed bag really. good luck with things though people!

i haven't had a reply yet, the website says it could take 20 days which is about standard for government departments.

i know when i was in Portugal in 2007 then again in 2008 the amount of LP'n from new buildings was immense, the difference in just a year was staggering.

[PeterW]

I reported two lights to my local council via 'fixmystreet.com'. Got a reply of action and then nothing, prodded, nothing, then send a 'not amused email' which got a reply from the council lighting boss copied to the lighting contractor.... next day the lights were shielded! (On Astrofest day!). Be polite and keep pushing gently and you ought to get a response. For the neighbours, just help them adjust the lights so that they can light up their land as much as they like, but ensure than none comes over the fence.... light over the fence is not helping them see the burglars!

Best of luck

PEterW

[EA2007]

I have a provisional reply from the council saying that my message has been forwarded to the street lighting department.......here's to waiting