Hi there

The streetlight that sits no more than 5 metres from my back garden was out for a couple of weeks, oh happy days, last night I came home to find it was repaired, they didn't repair it with a orange light, it was one of the newer white lights and this is what I got:



This thing blazes into my back garden, through the frosted glass on the back door and it is brighter, considerably brighter, than the full moon. Here is my shadow from this light:



They did not replace the lamp pole, it was the original, just the light itself, they put in new poles and lights around the area and you can clearly see the different angles.the newer lights are more towards the 90 degrees, the older one has a steeper angle.




This is the bulb used in both:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3459/3230439743_28f88f51cb.jpg?v=0

This light will mean that it almost impossible to observe from my back garden without the expense of building light shields.

Have I any recourse with the council about this light?
Is there any law that deals with this problem?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Paul

If you ring, or better still, call into the council office and
explain to them that the light is too bright for where it is.
Tell them it floods your property and is a nuisance to you both in the sense of privacy and an interruption of sleep.
They should be able to change it easy enough.
ATB with it.

lunartic wrote:


[/quote]

The plan for a lot of councils with ESB as the contractor is to use these FCO's rather than the older lights. Great for reducing skyglow but not so good if you are in the light cone.

Your best approach would be to ask the council about shielding it from going into your property.

I contacted Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown Council and got to talk to someone, who didn't really understand what my complaint was, he said he would pass my complaint onto the engineer when he came in later that day, I asked could I speak to him and was told no, perhaps he doesn't speak to the little people. I left my number and I was assured that I would be contacted, I asked when and I was not given a time, so I don't intend to hold my breath.

I'll contact them again on Thursday to see if there was any contact, if not I'll drop down to their offices next Tuesday morning.

Checking the council's website they have regulations against air pollution and noise pollution, light pollution doesn't exist in their world.

Paul

I've decided to contact my local Green councillor in the hope that he might be able to do something. Remember there's local elections in the summer.

Paul

Good luck Paul, persistance is key here, tell them you find it objectionable.

Keith..

lunartic wrote:
who didn't really understand what my complaint was,[/quote]

That is what you are up against.
It would be hard enough to get them to understand that
not everyone appreciates regular lighting - let alone
reasons why from an astronomers perspective.
If you go down the 'Astronomer' route you will get nowhere fast.
Best just to play the 'irritated resident' and Victor Meldrew them into changing it.
Persistence is the key.

Even go so far as to say that your dogs (yes, you own 2 golden labradors and a chihuahua for the wife) are sometimes incessantly whining in your yard due tio the amount of bright stray light entering your yard. They will know that no one likes loud dogs after dark.



Seanie.

Seanie, that's a diabolical ploy but better yet train them to bark at the light when you tell them to!

Tell them the light is shining in your window, it stops you sleeping and is affecting your health also the light in the yard upsets your dogs. Don't mention astronomy or you will get nowhere. Carl O'Beirnes was very successful with an approach like this. They have no comeback against the health angle.

Hopefully you will get this resolved.

The only trouble with telling them it's shining through the window is that it's only shining in the kitchen window, there are no bedroom on that side of the house. An inspection will dispell that lie.

I still haven't heard from the council, twenty-four hours after making the complaint, what a surprise, I'll be back onto them tomorrow.

Paul

They wont inspect it, they'll just send a guy out to put a shield on it. If anyone asks tell them you sleep downstairs 'Cause of me back yoosee' 'Hurt it last year climbing a lamp-post'

Exactly.

The annoying sodium light in front of my house just blew in the last 30 minutes. Woo Hoo !! Now to stop the neighbours having it replaced:S

If your council is anything like mine then you could be staring at a floodlight in the near future.

Paul

lunartic wrote:Checking the council's website they have regulations against air pollution and noise pollution, light pollution doesn't exist in their world.[/quote]

DLR seem to have a blind a deaf spot with light pollution. My submissions to the development plan a few years back didn't get acknowledged, even sent one by registered mail. I've never got a response from them to any lighting enquiry.

albertw wrote:

lunartic wrote:

Checking the council's website they have regulations against air pollution and noise pollution, light pollution doesn't exist in their world.

DLR seem to have a blind a deaf spot with light pollution. My submissions to the development plan a few years back didn't get acknowledged, even sent one by registered mail. I've never got a response from them to any lighting enquiry.

That might be different now Al, you know, internal promotions in the DLR district may mean someone with a more open-minded approach now holds the position. You should try sending your letter in again and let us know how you get on.

Seanie.

I had a visit tonight from the Green councillor I contacted, Tom Kivlehan, he came and saw the light, had a look in the back garden and informed me that he had contacted the engineer and he is due to visit next week. Tom said to contact him again if the engineer doesn't turn up by Friday next.

He sounded sympathetic to my concerns so I'm hopeful that something will result from this and the problem sorted.

Paul

Wow! That sounds very optimistic.

lunartic wrote:

I had a visit tonight from the Green councillor I contacted...

....He sounded sympathetic to my concerns so I'm hopeful that something will result from this and the problem sorted.

Well I don't think you've got off to a bad start there Paul. Keep us posted.

Seanie.

lunartic wrote:

I've decided to contact my local Green councillor in the hope that he might be able to do something. Remember there's local elections in the summer.

Paul

Lots of luck! I tried contacting ALL the Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown councillors in an effort to have some unnecessary road lights removed or shaded and the only one to reply to me was Dennis O'Callaghan. Not a peep from the Greens! I reckon they've sold out now that power has gone to their heads!

Phil.

An update:

The engineer did not arrive, big surprise there, I contacted my councillor by e-mail last Monday, and have yet to hear a reply. I've rattled off another e-mail this evening, if I get no reply then I'll visit his clinic to see if I can get some answers.

Things started out promising, but it looks like it's all going as expected, still, there's always hope, and a slingshot.

Paul

lunartic wrote:

and a slingshot.

Good to hear there's a Plan B!

I got a visit from Green Councillor Tom Kivlehan this evening, he informed me that the engineer was out to view the light. There are more lights being worked on in the area and when the work crews are back they will look at ways to change the angle so that it is pointing more towards the ground. He also told me he will be in the council chambers on Monday night and will see what progress has been made.

Keeping my fingers crossed, though it doesn't look like there will be any kind of cowl or shield, still, we'll see what happens.

Paul

The ESB came out the other day to adjust the light, they lowered the height and adjusted the angle so that it's not shining on the back of the house any more. But it's still a nuisance and I think I'm going to have to construct a light shield to block it off.

Paul