ILP Durham CPD Webinar: Northern England Dark Skies – sharing good practice part 1
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As a lighting industry and profession, through LED technology we have made huge strides in reducing energy use and carbon emissions. Our next challenge is reduce light pollution to safeguard wildlife and protect people’s enjoyment of star laden Dark Skies. Our two speakers in this webinar will share some context driving these issues, and show pilots of good practice in public realm and business property lighting from Cumbria, the Lake District and the North York Moors Dark Sky Reserve. We can work together across different interests to mainstream Dark Sky compliant lighting both in the North of England and UK-wide. Speaker: Jack Ellerby, Dark Skies Cumbria Project Officer at Friends of the Lake District. © Please note that no part of these presentations should be copied or reproduced without permission.
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ILP Durham CPD Webinar: Northern England Dark Skies – sharing good practice part 1
- 1. Dark Skies Cumbria – Saving Our Night Skies Jack Ellerby Project Officer
- 2. • We are only 7 generations from a time when there was no artificial lighting. • 24% increase in light pollution in England 1993- 2000. • Only 22% of England had the Darkest skies left. • Northumberland No.1 Darkest area, Cumbria 5th. • ‘Great North of England Dark Sky Area’ (Northumberland & Kielder, North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales NPs)
- 3. DS Reserves DS Parks IDA Dark Sky Reserves UK and Ireland Tomintoul & Glenlivet Northumberland Galloway Forest Davagh Yorks Dales N York Ballycroy Moors Snowdonia Elan Valley Kerry Brecon Beacons Exmoor S.Downs Bodmin Moor Cranborne Chase
- 4. • IDA DS Parks, Reserves and Communities. • APPG for DS – 10 Policies Report. • UK DS Partnership (Technical & Comms Groups) • DS Cumbria Project = Net reduction in Cumbria’s Light Pollution in 5 years. • Collective Aims for Lighting: - Energy & emissions savings; - Biodiversity Net Gain (not just reducing harm); - Intrinsic Dark Landscapes Towns & Cities; - LIAs & cumulative individual sites + Place Vision; - DS & Wildlife-friendly – Bespoke Mainstream.
- 5. .
Editor's Notes
- Me – been in role just over a year (steep learning curve!). Cover the whole of Cumbria not just the LDNP. I will cover a quick context overview and share some public realm DS & wildlife friendly lighting pilots. ….. in the 2nd half, Mike will tell us about the NYMNP DSR status/Lighting Management Plan and show us some pilot projects on properties and businesses. IMAGE: Milky Way over Catbells, Derwentwater - 85% of UK residents have never seen (threshold for Dark Sky Reserve ‘Core’ area). Reducing light pollution + wasted light delivers on 3 big public priority agendas: Climate emergency - reduce wasted light = reduced electricity & GHG emissions; Biodiversity crisis - growing awareness of LP impacts on wildlife, direct & indirect; and Celebrating Dark Skies/starscapes supports economic recovery (eg. Astrotourism).
- CPRE Night Blight Report 2016 - Satellite image at 1.30am in morning Sept 2015 – waste of energy? From 1993 – 2000 in Cumbria: Dark Blue area – fell by 23% (5229%) and Red area – increased by 13% (6174%). Return to Satellite data later.
- Highest concentration of DS Parks and Reserves in world. Lake District and North Pennines AONB to follow… Also Dark Sky Communities – Coll, Moffat and Sark, with Anglesey, Bardsey and the Isle of Wight awaiting approval. In Cumbria - Arnside & Silverdale AONB keen to apply.
- Background Context….
- From Bad to Good practice to reduce light pollution….. Street light showing potential for all 3 main forms of light pollution if not designed correctly - focus light where it fulfils it’s intended purpose with flat luminaires (& shielding). Colour temperatures – better range of commercial options below 3,000K (IDA new principles 2,200K) Night dimming (50%) and part-night switch offs. Drop Lux levels 10/10 5/5 switching photocells on rural and residential roads. Show you pilots working with Ian Harker CCC, Craig Lensky (Thorn Lighting UK) and colleagues.
- NightTune Thorn Lighting UK (Zumtobel Group) Cumbria Pilots – Dark Sky-Nature Friendly new product – 2,700 2,400K 2,200K. <2,700 for humans and <2,200-2,400K for wildlife – new IDA Principles (Jan 21). 5 Pilots in National Parks and AONB – Lake District (Ambleside & Glenridding), North Pennines (Alston & Warcop) and Yorkshire Dales (Dent). 25-50% dimming. Indirect illuminance – virtually zero glare.
- NightTune – Glenridding (Ullswater valley, LDNP) – 12 lights residential estate on village edge.
- NightTune – Waterhead, Ambleside (LDNP) – 2 lights sensitive lakeshore setting. Questionnaire feedback coming in…. Fisherbeck Park, Ambleside (18 lights) – 1st feedback: “Just a quick mail to register approval for the new street lights… They look great and give a lovely ambience at night, much less glare than standard lights, and it’s exciting to know that wildlife will benefit from the decrease in blue light and well get to see starrier skies too!” Alston resident: “Thanks for trialing these lights on my estate. They are way better than previous bright white lights, the shape is friendlier too… These new ones give quite sufficient light and do not intrude at night - as last ones did. Our estate is over lit , its a small and non through road. So I am much happier.
- Reducing colour temperature for wildlife: NightTune Kelvins wildlife friendlier and mixed photocells can vary at different periods. Spectrometer reading taken NT at Glenridding (10.10pm) 2,400 Kelvin. (NB. 4,000K light spectrum contains 35% blue-white content, and 2,700K 17%). Bats important group representing 1/3 of Europe’s mammals - 9 of the 17 UK Species are in Cumbria. Two of these in Cumbria are particularly sensitive to lighting – the Brown Long-Eared and Natterers Bats. Both are rare internationally/nationally, but common in Cumbria and is a stronghold, because of the number of barns/old buildings and lots of woodland where these bats roost and feed. Bats will often do light sampling: they examine the quality of darkness outside their roosts. If there is light pollution, larger species won’t go hunting in a certain habitat or at all, and miss the best feeding time.
- Image 1: Lorton in LDNP and 43 lights owned by Allerdale BC - residents survey, keen on Dark Skies and wildlife, wanted night switch off. - HPS LED Isaro Pro 2,200K, 50% dimmed and part-time switch off (12pm-6am). NB. Many hamlets and small villages across Cumbria & N. of England have no road lights and will fight to keep in that way! (eg. Buttermere next door). Do we need to require road lights for all new developments in instrinsically dark rural landscapes? …. Revenue costs and the public purse! Image 2: - Cliff Terrace Kendal – Conservation Area & Victorian terrace, 3 poor footway lights – glare into houses (affecting sleep), Bat roosts under eaves and LP across from Kendal Castle scheduled monument open public space. - Restored Cast Iron Posts, with modern Thorn P145 Heritage Style lanterns, 2,200K and 50% dimmed. Residents maybe want night switch off.
- Comparison change between 2013 - 2019 VIIRS Satellite data. Clearly shows improvements from CCC’s led by Ian Harker LED replacement programme (although blue-white spectrum LED not fully picked up). Growth areas especially parts of Barrow, Sellafield, Silloth, Carlisle Airport and Penrith. Ian has embedded-linked into their Lighting Asset Database so will be able to monitor changes from specific future lighting initiatives.
- Next…. Cundall Light4 Lighting Audit and Action Plans – Kendal-Oxenholme, Images: (left) – South Lakes Retail Park and (right) Morrison Car Park: Pole Mounted Square Floodlights, 4,000K, 26-50% Upward Light Spill, Vertical Lux 59 and 12, respectively.
- We’re not asking people to live in complete darkness or create ‘demographic curfews’ (as Peter Thorns termed). Light for a clear need and still deliver quality lighting design solutions whilst protecting the night sky and wildlife. Unlike tackling plastic entering into the oceans or carbon/GHGs in the atmosphere, which will take decades to solve, we can make an instant improvement with our lighting. Collaboration - collectively we are all lighting champions…. ‘Think Big, Act Fast and Make a Difference’!