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When we moved into our house 3 years ago the village had sodium streetlights, which were not really anywhere near our garden (our garden is reasonably unique in that we live in the point of a triangle, house at the point, roads along the two edges, someone else's house at the bottom, open space across the roads on both sides of the garden). As such, we could go out on any reasonably clear night and see vast numbers of stars and galaxies, and the Milky Way was exceptionally clear.
Last year, the council decided to put a bright white streetlight on the road either side of our garden which eradicated all but the brightest of stars from our vision.
I was annoyed at the time, but didn't realise until tonight how annoyed. I've been at my Bro-in-law's, about 200 yds down the same road, and from his garden your can see forever.
Do I have any chance of getting my night view back?
I can't help, except to mention that this is the plot of an episode of One Foot In The Grave.
[staccato]I... don't... believe it[/staccato]
Your case is likely to be weakened by waiting a year before raising it.
The impact of you not being able to see stars is unlikely to be as pursuasive as other impacts like lack of sleep or depression.
You could ask for a shield to be placed at the back of the light to reduce the light spillage on to your boundary.
It might be easy for the lights to be dimmed depending on the tech they have used and what it is illuminating and the impact dimming would have on uniformity of lighting in the area.
You could also ask for the reason why the position of the light was changed/additional lights were installed.
I got one moved. The council are actually very restricted to how exactly they install these things, but they often disregard this and put them where it's most convenient to them - proximity to power cables etc.
I got an engineer/regs officers to come and inspect it and they agreed it was well out of spec and a week later it was moved. They also turned the power down and adjusted the angle.
Just hope the council start cost cutting like in our village. All the streetlights are off after 11 now. Pitch black!
Yes my parents got one moved, as did someone else on their street. They went from old fashioned yellow lights to modern much taller ones.
However the reason they managed to get them moved was that even with a shade put on the lights, light still shone in to bedrooms.
The fact they stop you looking at stars does seam a bit precious IMO.
Ours get turned off overnight, its great 🙂
The fact they stop you looking at stars does seam a bit precious IMO.
Probably the same attitude the person that approved the installation had.
If you spend good money to move somewhere because you like the environment and it's suddenly changed for the negative, I'd say you have every right to be upset. Getting the lights moved could prove difficult though, unless they are casting light directly into your property and it's affecting your comfort in the home. Light pollution in the UK is something the majority of us have to live with.
No doubt others were glad for the added security the lights may offer. Their concerns matter too.
I got one turned down, after the council replaced the yellow lights with bright white ones. Placed not far from my (and next doors) main bedroom the light shines in and was obtrusive. Simply complained, they came out and put a shield around it to deflect the beam, then turned down the brightness.
Still bright mind, but 70% better than before.
Would anyone else complain if they didn't work?
Plant a suitable pair of trees, that over time will block the lighting into garden?
More Eco and saves cash from cost of moving lights, dahlings.
Did council move lights on the request of neighbours? 😉
We had a shield put on the one outside ours when they were switched from sodium. Makes a big difference to light on the front of the house but the street is still well lit.
We have an old sodium light out side our bedroom window. Wife used to moan like mad so I still had a column key from my old days as a council sparky and I went out one night opened up the column and took out the cut out. Problem sorted for until the council eventually get round to fixing it.
Not much chance OP. Its a very expensive process and unless you have a reasonable claim - column blocking access, light preventing you from sleep (which may only have a shade applied anyway) plus also the council mitigation of criminal risk should the remove light from the area means it won't happen.
Chance are theyve changed from Sodium Oxide (SOX, Orange light) to either SON (Sodium Nitrate, brighter for the given wattage and a white light) or LED the latter two having the obvious efficiency benefits. Its common established practise, meets the UK code of practise for streetlighting which basically means theres unlikely munch you can do except ask for it to be shaded at the property side of the light to avoid light intrusion to your premises.
I was thinking about maybe ask them about putting some sort of shield on the lamp. Just to defflect the light towards your garden. Or if you yourself do some ugly looking shit defflecting preventing the light into your garden/house
Copper nails around the base.
Trim any overhangs but be sure return the offcuts over the boundary.
Awesome thread.... i noticed when we had a minor power cut how much better it was... we go our light changed a few months back to white and it's too bright for me... I never thought i'd be able to do something about it !
Thanks STW
Just get you local councillor on board and get them to raise the request, it is amazing how high we have to jump in local authority when a councillor is the person doing the asking.
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We were told in no uncertain terms about 8 years ago that we had to have street lights fitted to meet with some local road safety directive (more than a certain number of people in the village, therefore the road must be busy enough to need street lights). Bloody dirty great sodium street lights. Even though its a private road/village.
Consequently we refused the council permission to bury the cables. Or dig foundations. Or bring heavy construction gear into the village.
So we still haven't got any lights and they stopped sending nasty letters telling us which directive we are in breach of about 4 or 5 years ago. HA!
The road is "illuminated" by the dozen or so lights people have next to their front doors/garages. At any one time 25% are switched off and 25% have a blown bulb. Both mine are blown 😳
Oh, place i used to live in the uk had a massive problem with dog walkers letting doggies piss up the poles, a few popular ones got so rusty and rotten they needed replacing on a regular basis. Until they gave up and stopped replacing them.
Try pouring something corrosive on the post..............
Would anyone else complain if they didn't work?
good shout.
one right by my house was broken for a long time before i reported it. i live in a corner plot on the edge of a park and would rather have it on for security for people walking past and that side of my house. (have a PIR by my car too). not that there's an issue, i forget to lock my car after unloiading from time to time and its fine..
I'm aware it sounds a little precious, yes 😆
We got one of them moved when they were originally put up cos it had been positioned right next to our bedroom window, but at the time I didn't realise quite how bright they were going to be.
Think I'll get in touch with the council to see about those shield things.
I've just requested some form of shielding using the online form for Kirklees.
Moved into my house in March and despite blackout curtains the streetlight outside my house still lights up my bedroom.
If that doesn't work then i'm going to install blackout blinds as well as the curtains!
Street Lighting in the UK has to comply with BS5489 - the engineer/technician who has designed the installation has some leeway in placing of columns but it needs to comply with the required level of light and both longitudinal and overall uniformity which varies depending on the class of road being lit.
White lighting sources are generally less efficient and when measured actually put out less light than the old SOX (orange ) lights but appear to the human eye due to being a full spectrum light rather than monochromatic. If anyone want to know more about this then google for the Purkinje effect.
Can't you just bribe the dude on stilts not to light those ones? That's what I do...(well technically I use blackmail but that's really just pre-paid bribery).
A bloke I shared a house with when I was a student had a bedroom in a converted loft, the street light was literally about 6 foot from his bedroom window and shone right in - he remedied this by leaning out of his window and smashing it with a scaffolding pole he had acquired. We must have had a high ranking council official in our street as he did this twice and both times the council replaced it within 2 days.
Can't you just bribe the dude on stilts not to light those ones?
He's a relation isn't he?
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Yeah a while back we came home to find the dull yellow street lights had been replaced with million lumen white lights and although it didn't bother us the people a couple of doors down and some others along one of the side streets had them right opposite their houses and tbh they were fricken bright.
Anyway they were both removed in a very short space of time. The street is quite dark without them but everyone's used to it now
Might be worth looking at some of the astronomy forums as I've read about them getting moved or shields put on them to direct the light.
Try stargazerslounge.com its probably one of the biggest
"If you spend good money to move somewhere because you like the environment and it's suddenly changed for the negative, I'd say you have every right to be upset."
Why do people think that spending a lot of money gives them the 'right' to live in an ideal environment? You buy a house, not the surrounding environment which must be shared with others (or go and buy your own island somewhere..).
This really is a case of NIMBYism! 😆
You'd only ever really have a case if the lights actually did cause you unreasonable inconvenience or stress, as pointed out re sleep/privacy. Or if the construction/installation of something nearby had a significant negative impact on you financially.
"Do I have any chance of getting my night view back?"
Why not move, if it's so important?
This really is a case of NIMBYism!
Nobody is trying to move the lights elsewhere...they just want them off/gone. Anyone who spends money on a house has some kind of right to enjoy it. And houses that cost a lot more come with more space around them which means any intrusion becomes even more significant. Of course spending more on a property gives you the right to expect to have a greater degree of privacy and other benefits. Anyone who says otherwise has their head in the sand.
"Of course spending more on a property gives you the right to expect to have a greater degree of privacy and other benefits. "
No it doesn't. Buying a property with more land around it (which wouldn't necessarily cost more), would potentially offer greater privacy, but you don't have a 'right' to be completely unaffected by changes to the public areas that surround your home. We live in a relatively affluent area, and I've experienced quite a few new neighbours claiming they have certain 'rights' (when they discover that the reality of living there conflicts with their imagined ideal), then finding out they they actually don't. 'Rights' are generaly enshrined in Law. Anything else is imagined privilege.