Serving the community of Hinton Parva, Russley Park and Bishopstone.

“Darkness at night is one of the things that defines the countryside and makes it so different from towns and cities.

But that darkness is disappearing, and with it our view of the stars and planets.

It's disappearing because we carelessly and wastefully beam outdoor light upwards into the sky. Collectively, these lights stop us from being able to see the night sky, with all its majesty and mystery. Instead, we see only a pinky orange glow, which only a few dozen of the brightest stars can penetrate. This glow spreads for miles outside towns and cities, making it much harder - or even impossible - to see the sight of thousands of stars and our own galaxy, the Milky Way.” - source CPRE.

Bishopstone and Hinton Parva are lucky to have no street lighting, but also unlucky in that many outside lights are causing significant inconvenience to neighbours.  Often councillors are asked what can be done.  The only solution is to politely approach the person in question and ask if they would mind angling their lights so that they only illuminate their own property.  Some are very considerate and many outside lights are now shielded.  Many are not. 

What can everyone in the villages do to help? 

Here are some guidelines.

• Only fit the power of light you need to illuminate the immediate area.
• Ensure that any outside lights are shielded, or positioned, such that they only shine down and onto your own property.
• Consider your neighbours when fitting lights.
• Only have outside lights on when needed.
• Avoid fitting halogen type lamps as these wast vast amounts of energy.  Use alternaties such as low wattage energy saving lights. 
• Make sure that the design is right.  Light should only shine downwards.  Lamps that allow light to escape upwards are inefficient and can cause pollution problems.

Help to keep the Parish a pleasant place to live.

By far and away the biggest problem is Swindon whose glow seems to expand almost daily to fill the skies above us.  The Parish Council takes every opportunity to feedback on consultations where light pollution has been omitted as an issue.

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Space for this site was generously donated by Simon Warrick.