Light pollution to get worse/Brisbane City Council LED street lights update
Been reminded to update you guys on the LED street lighting trials in Brisbane when I got a letter back from city council thanking me for writing in (but with a canned response that doesn't give much more indicating on what they plan to do... well, at least the mayor actually signed it with a pen).
Basically the vibe we got from the crazy meeting/panel discussion/debate at one of the Brisbane Astronomical Association meeting few months back was that they have heard all the concerns, seemed interested, or acted interested, and the council/Energex reps went back to report the findings, and got stonewalled by their superiors who have already decided that they want those glaring LED full spectrum bulbs regardless, and the trials are just for show.
Really, why do we bother anymore? *cancels order for light pollution filters and makes plans for moving to the middle of the desert*
Quote:
From Ken Wishaw of Sunshine Coast Dark Sky Association:
As many of you may know this Facebook page was set up in part to raise awareness of the problem of light pollution.
You may also know that the impact of artificial light at night has been my topic of research at university.
Part of my research was to evaluate the Sunshine Coast Council Urban lighting Master Plan, which I believe is perhaps the best i have seen anywhere in the world.
It involved the council taking over streetlighting and replacing the present outdated system with modern, smart LED lighting that complied with the standards of the international Dark Sky Association.
As planned it would have led to safer, better quality lighting, dramatically reduced light pollution and up to a 50% reduction in power requirements.
All other councils in South East Queensland (with the exception of Brisbane City Council) declared their desire to adopt the plan and jointly they submitted a joint proposal to implement the plan across the entire region.
So it is pretty disappointing to see that the Queensland Government and Energex have rejected the proposal.
In a letter dated 19 May to the Local Government Association of Queensland, Energy Queensland CEO David Smales said, “I see street lights as assets that will remain with Energy Queensland as a Government Owned Corporation.”
To date our discussions with Energex and their insight into the problem have been far from encouraging and a significant increase in light pollution for South East Queensland could be imminent.
I would like to believe that education rather than confrontation is the way forward, so today I wrote an invitation (sent by registered snail mail) to David Smales for him and his colleagues to come and enjoy the night sky at Maleny and see why we feel the way we do.
Our Facebook group is non political but will fight for dark skies as necessary.
I will keep you posted, and call on your support as necessary.
Ken
My council replaced the street lighting with unshielded 4000K LED's which had a noticeable negative impact on light pollution. I managed to get a shield installed on my closest lamp and it made a big difference to my backyard by preventing direct illumination (see image attached: the grey rubber parts are inserts which fit inside the clear cover).
The shield also cut front yard illumination by about half.
If Brisbane council is ignoring current requests for responsible lighting perhaps locals could ask for shields to be included at the time of installation of the new LED's. Shields still allow for direct illumination of the road and footpath but reduce light trespass onto resident's properties. There a different types of shields; you'd need to find out which lamp model is being installed, look up the shield models for that lamp and request the shield which best prevents light trespass onto properties.
Perhaps a large number of amateur astronomers turning up at a council meeting to present the idea of shields might have the desired impact (more so than correspondence).
Perhaps a large number of amateur astronomers turning up at a council meeting to present the idea of shields might have the desired impact (more so than correspondence).
Maybe! But they have met with a large number of astronomers already and whatever they were thinking, it isn't about us.
If they polled the public, of course they will go for it, because we (speaking as average Joe) are ignorant for most part--we don't have the knowledge or even the vocabulary to argue against these LED lights. Unless you did your research and homework, you don't know the problems associated with these lights until it's too late, and bam, you're stuck with these things for the next 30 years.
My council replaced the street lighting with unshielded 4000K LED's which had a noticeable negative impact on light pollution. I managed to get a shield installed on my closest lamp and it made a big difference to my backyard by preventing direct illumination (see image attached: the grey rubber parts are inserts which fit inside the clear cover).
The shield also cut front yard illumination by about half.
If Brisbane council is ignoring current requests for responsible lighting perhaps locals could ask for shields to be included at the time of installation of the new LED's. Shields still allow for direct illumination of the road and footpath but reduce light trespass onto resident's properties. There a different types of shields; you'd need to find out which lamp model is being installed, look up the shield models for that lamp and request the shield which best prevents light trespass onto properties.
The idea of shields did come up in the discussion at the BAS meeting, but my impression from the response we've been getting is that they don't want to spend the extra money on shields to help with light pollution.
I think reality will bite when thousands of residents start protesting having glaring street lights just outside their windows. Too little, too late by then.
and bam, you're stuck with these things for the next 30 years.
Hope it's not too late to make a final push.
Even if it gets to that point, the shields can easily be retrofitted so it's never too late to get something done, even if it's just your local lamp.
My local environmental officer is a good guy and was very helpful in getting my shield fitted. Unfortunately it sounds like the Brisbane councillors don't care, thus my suggestion of an annoying bunch of observers pushing for something to be done at council meetings - polite but persistent is the way to go when dealing with bureaucracy. Make it easier for the councillors to have shields installed than to put up with interlopers in council meetings.
In addition to observing concerns, point out the detrimental effects on sleeping from the glare of the LED's; they are brighter than the previous mercury vapour lamps we had. Block-out blinds don't cure the problem either as the light reflects around the side of the blind preventing the bedroom from being properly dark.
I managed to get a shield installed on my closest lamp and it made a big difference to my backyard by preventing direct illumination (see image attached: the grey rubber parts are inserts which fit inside the clear cover).
After seeing your post I did call my council and they have lodged a request with the electricity company to shield my LED light pole so I'm waiting on it now. It's been a couple of weeks.
After seeing your post I did call my council and they have lodged a request with the electricity company to shield my LED light pole so I'm waiting on it now. It's been a couple of weeks.
Good luck with it
It took several months to get my shield fitted; I had to help the council guy find the appropriate shield and the wheels turned slowly, but got there in the end. I only mentioned that the LED interfering with sleeping.
My council replaced the street lighting with unshielded 4000K LED's which had a noticeable negative impact on light pollution. I managed to get a shield installed on my closest lamp and it made a big difference to my backyard by preventing direct illumination (see image attached: the grey rubber parts are inserts which fit inside the clear cover).
The shield also cut front yard illumination by about half.
If Brisbane council is ignoring current requests for responsible lighting perhaps locals could ask for shields to be included at the time of installation of the new LED's. Shields still allow for direct illumination of the road and footpath but reduce light trespass onto resident's properties. There a different types of shields; you'd need to find out which lamp model is being installed, look up the shield models for that lamp and request the shield which best prevents light trespass onto properties.
I had a chat with the Ausgrid guys who were replacing a burnt out street light nearest my house ( I swear i had nothing to do with that) and they replaced the old bucket style 360 degree fitting with the exact same one in your photo, with the shield. It was not the one they had planned to install but they had it in the truck. Never hurts to ask.
It took several months to get my shield fitted; I had to help the council guy find the appropriate shield and the wheels turned slowly, but got there in the end. I only mentioned that the LED interfering with sleeping.
Same here. It's in front of my bedroom window on the second floor.
I had a chat with the Ausgrid guys who were replacing a burnt out street light nearest my house ( I swear i had nothing to do with that) and they replaced the old bucket style 360 degree fitting with the exact same one in your photo, with the shield. It was not the one they had planned to install but they had it in the truck. Never hurts to ask.
This is turning into a good news thread Inspiration for the Brisbane guys.
I fixed mine long pole with a paint brush of black paint
My lamp is too high on an electricity pole to reach. I notice that the lamps are closer to the ground in newer areas with underground power lines, though I'd only take matters into my own hands as a last resort.
Light pollution to get worse/Brisbane City Council LED street lights update
*cancels order for light pollution filters and makes plans for moving to the middle of the desert*
Inspiration for the Brisbane guys.
