Light Pollution (Again)

Apparently, Sir Nigel Thompson, chairman of the Campaign to Protect Rural
England gave a talk to the Institution of Lighting Engineers last night. He
said it was unacceptable that children in the future may have to rely on TV,
the internet or planetariums to study space, rather than being able to see
the starts themselves. He is quoted as saying "Nothing in the natural world
achieves quite such a combination of beauty and mystery. Shouldn't we
conserve such things while we still can?"
55% of the UK population live in areas where the Milky Way is not visible.
The CPRE is concerned that plans for 500,000 new homes in the east & south
east will make the problem even worse.
In his talk, Sir Nigel said more needed to be done to prevent light from
pointing up to the sky instead of being targeted at the object or area for
which it is required.
He suggested cases where bright lights shine into people's homes be declared
a statutory nuisance, which would allow councils to deal with the problem.
He is reported to have been disappointed that proposals to ban outdoor
lighting in remote areas had been rejected.


I live in New Cross, a couple of miles from central London, so it's probably
too late for me! Let's hope it isn't too late for the rest of you.


Happy Dark Skies,


DaveL