Dip your lighting to protect our dark skies
HOME AND BUSINESS OWNERS URGED TO STOP USING LED FLOODLIGHTS
CONCERNS have been raised over the damage caused by LED lighting to Northumberland’s dark skies – one of the county’s growing visitor attractions.
Satellite maps of England’s light pollution and dark skies released by the Campaign to Protect Rural England show that Northumberland is the darkest national park, with 96% of the area having pristine night skies.
The process to secure Gold Tier International Dark Sky Park designation in 2013 was overseen by a steering group of Kielder Water & Forest Park Development Trust, Northumberland National Park Authority, Forestry Commission, Kielder Observatory Astronomical Society, Northumberland County Council and Northumberland Tourism.
Northumberland is Europe’s largest area of protected night sky at 572 square miles, while the North Pennines is also developing a growing dark skies offer.
But now there are concerns that many outside lights, especially LED floodlights and security lights, can be too bright and are installed in such a way that much of the light is directed up into the night sky, contributing to the orangey-white sky glow above towns and cities which spreads out into the countryside.
“We are incredibly proud of our dark skies. Our outstanding night skies are of vital importance to the Northumberland tourism industry at this time of year,” said Duncan Wise, visitor development and marketing manager at Northumberland National Park.
“There has been a significant increase in the use of LED flood lighting being installed on the
sides of houses, barns and industrial buildings, right across the Northumberland International Dark Sky Park, as well as in other rural areas.
“Many of these LED lights, especially those installed incorrectly, can emit an intense white/blue light which ruins our view of the heavens.”
Northumberland is supporting a nationwide Big Dipper campaign aimed at raising public awareness of light pollution.
Big Dipper, which officially launches this month, is the idea of the Dark Sky Alliance, a national group made up of conservationists, astronomers and tourist operators, including a number of national parks.
“Through the Big Dipper campaign, we are asking people to ensure that the lights around their homes point down and are fully shielded, only illuminate the areas they need to and aren’t used excessively, employ lighting that is no brighter than necessary and if possible, don’t use bulbs which emit white/blue light, but rather warmer colours to help minimise glare which affects not only our night skies, but also wildlife,” said Mr Wise.
With the dark nights drawing in, the campaign aims to encourage property owners with outside lighting to assess how much lighting they have.
To help landowners in and around the Northumberland International Dark Sky Park to convert to dark sky-friendly lighting in line with the campaign, for a limited time Northumberland National Park is offering help through its small grants fund to businesses to cover the cost of replacing their existing outdoor floodlights with shielded ambient lighting.
Ruth Dickinson, community and rural enterprise officer at Northumberland National Park Authority, said: “Offering grant funding toward the cost of installing dark sky friendly lighting is a positive and proactive step that we can take to help businesses minimise light pollution and help maintain our magnificent dark skies.”
Northumberland National Park is hosting a number of dark skies events as part of its winter events programme. Starting with a family astronomy event at The Sill: National Landscape Discovery Centre on Saturday and running until the end of next March, the programme includes stargazing events, astrophotography courses, and meteor shower watches.
To find out more about dark sky events or to book tickets, visit http://www.northumberlandnationalpark.org.uk. For more information about the Small Grants Fund for businesses, contact ruth.dickinson@ nnpa.org.uk.
For advice on minimising light pollution visit http://www. britastro.org/dark-skies or http://darksky.org/lighting/ lighting-basics/.
Further information on light pollution and interactive maps can be found at http://www. nightblight.cpre.org.uk.