Exterior Lighting, Statutory Nuisance and Light Pollution Conference

I announced my conference to BAA Council yesterday on the new law which will make exterior lighting subject to statutory nuisance as of the 6th April this year.

This new law is the first such weapon in the fight against bad lighting, and so I believe that it is of critical importance to the astronomical community, including all BAA members.

The conference is not a profit making adventure, and is intended to diseminate data. The date is the 20th April, at DeMontfort University in Leicester.

I would therefore be grateful if you would consider passing the data to anyone you may think may be interested, either in your local societies, or your local environmental health department:

Full details at:

http://www.dmu.ac.uk/faculties/business_and_law/
news/pr_light_pollution.jsp

Contact Kate Olivier on (0116) 250 6369 or email kolivier@dmu.ac.uk to book.

Exterior lighting is covered under the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act, which will come into force on 6 April 2006. The new law will impact upon all professions who deal with lighting, including lighting engineers, environmental health officers, planning officers, highways officers,
regeneration officers, the police and other crime and prevention officers.

The law follows concerns over the growth in 'light pollution', despite concerns over energy costs and the quality of life in urban areas. However, the new law will only tackle lighting if it amounts to a 'statutory nuisance'.

The conference will place the new law into context by examining its origins, aims and objectives. The new provisions will be explained so that practitioners can see how the law may affect them and what they need to do.
Moreover, detailed consideration will be given to the effects of lighting on crime, and how lighting can be successful, without creating a nuisance.

Conference Programme

09.30 Registration and coffee

10.15 Welcome
Martin Morgan Taylor, De Montfort Law School, DMU Leicester

10.30 Light Pollution: Causes and Effects
Bob Mizon, Co-ordinator, British Astronomical Association's Campaign for Dark Skies

11.30 The New Law of Lighting as a Statutory Nuisance
Martin Morgan Taylor, De Montfort Law School, DMU Leicester

12.30 Buffet lunch

13.30 Is Lighting Needed to Reduce Crime?
Dr Paul Marchant, Chartered Statistician, Leeds Metropolitan University

14.30 Tea

15.00 The Successful Application of Lighting as a Crime Deterrent
Tom Webster, Technical Support Manager, DW Windsor Lighting

16.00 Plenary

Martin Morgan Taylor
DeMontfort University

• The above details of this forthcoming conference were supplied by the British Astronomical Association Radio Astronomy Group http://www.britastro.org/radio/

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