Dark roads will lead to brighter future says UK pollution commission

Ben Webster, The Times Online 28 Nov 09;

The bright lights of the M4 motorway which could soon become a dim memory

Street and motorway lights should be dimmed or switched off to save energy and let people see the stars, the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution says.

It says there is little evidence that such lighting significantly cuts accidents or crime. It recommends the removal of thousands of motorway lights, possibly even at junctions. Its report, Artificial Light in the Environment, also calls on councils to consider reducing street lighting.

The report says that since 1993 most of the UK has become brighter, obscuring the stars, and it backs a recent paper in the scientific journal Nature that said: “Without a direct view of the stars, mankind is cut off from most of the Universe, deprived of any direct sense of its huge scale and our tiny place in it.”

The commission proposes “dark- sky parks” all over Britain, with planning restrictions on outdoor lighting. The Galloway Forest Park in southern Scotland this month became Britain’s first official dark-sky park, with 7,000 stars visible there, compared with 500 in Glasgow.

The report challenges Home Office assumptions that better street lighting cuts crime, arguing that the reductions also happen in daytime and can be credited to improvements such as removal of graffiti.

It says that the planned replacement of 2.3 million of Britain’s 7.4 million road lights in the next two years is “a real opportunity for local authorities to think about minimising the negative impacts of stray light”.

The commission acknowledges that turning off street lights can be very unpopular and it describes how, in Powys, one resident paid for lights to stay in his village.

Jenny Fawson, of the safety guidance charity the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, said: “Before lighting is reduced, we need to consider not only the potential increase in crime but that darkness increases people’s fear of crime.”

The report suggests that much wildlife can be harmed by artifical light, and recommends a planning presumption against artificial light in areas where it may harm species of concern.

The commission suggests that historic buildings should be floodlit only occasionally.

It says motorway lighting reduces crashes by about 10 per cent and that this may be too low to justify the costs. It welcomes the Highways Agency’s trials of switching off lighting on six stretches of motorway between midnight and 5am. The trials began in March and have so far reduced carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation by 230 tonnes, equal to 100 cars’ annual emissions.

Lighting up

In the 16th and 17th century, public lighting in London and Paris started with residents hanging lamps from their property to guide them home

Gas light, developed by William Murdoch, used coal gas to power lamps. In January 1807 Pall Mall, London, became the first street to be lit by gas light

The first electric streetlight in the UK was In Mosley Street, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. It was lit by Joseph Swan’s incandescent lamp in February 1879. Two months later electric streetlights arrived in the United States at the Public Square road system in Cleveland, Ohio.

Modern streetlights do not need to be changed to take into account daylight savings as they are fitted with solar clocks and photocells that self-adjust. Lamps are designed to stay on if they fail so that the street is not left dark at night

Source: Times archives

Less can be more when it comes to street lighting claims report
Light pollution not only blocks out the night sky but encourages crime and damages the environment, a Royal Commission report claims.
Richard Alleyne, The Telegraph 27 Nov 09;

Experts believe that the explosion of street lighting since the Second World War has not necessarily been beneficial and it is time to look at more subtle ways to illuminate the country at night.

They believe that too often authorities "blast" light in the "wrong place at the wrong time" and this can encourage crime, has no impact on road safety and damages quality of life.

The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution concludes that at the very least lighting should be removed from all motorways except at junctions and from many urban parks.

It also suggests that lights in city centres should be "dimmed" to reduce glare and that flood lights on buildings should be swapped for smaller spot lights.

Sir John Lawton, chair of the commission, said: "There is an urgent need for Government to recognise that artificial light in the wrong place or at the wrong time is a pollutant which can harm the natural environment."

He said artificial light provides many benefits – providing us with a sense of security and enabling us to pursue recreational activities at night.

But much of our outdoor lighting is badly designed or poorly installed, leading to wasted light or "sky glow".

He said the commission received evidence suggesting that artificial light can have adverse effects on the biology of many plants and animals – and maybe even humans.

This could be exasperated by the move towards replacing existing yellow road lighting with more modern broader wavelength lighting which can be seen by more wildlife.

In terms of crime, he said badly designed lighting can lead to glare and the creation of dark shadows which can help rather than hinder criminal activity.

In terms of road safety, studies suggest that lighting can reduce accidents at junctions where pedestrians and traffic meet, but it does not necessarily reduce accident levels on motorways when compared to daylight conditions.

Sir John said: "Too much lighting creates shadowed areas that allow criminals to hide. Intensely shadowed areas provide places for potential criminals such as muggers and burglars to hide.

“There are around seven and a half million road lights in the UK. Over two million are nearly 30 years old and will therefore need to be replaced in the next couple of years.

"This presents a real opportunity for local authorities to think about minimising the negative impacts of stray light, for the benefit of both nature and the general public.”