Stockgrove Park is a quiet rural location some 2 miles from Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire and 1 mile from Great Brickhill, Buckinghamshire. It has no council street lights and could be totally dark at night.
Most people value the peaceful setting and the chance to be away from the hurly-burly of the town. Yet some people still seem to flood the location with badly designed and ill-considered lighting. Lighting has its place but should be well designed to illuminate only that which is necessary. Well designed lighting also saves money and hence saves on precious natural resources.
This web page shows some of the worst examples:
If street-type lights are necessary, then well designed downlighting would solve the problem of glare and be far cheaper to run.
This view to the north was taken at midnight and although Milton Keynes is over 5 miles away it shows the colossal waste of energy. Most of Milton Keynes' lights are not downward facing, hence most of their light output is directed where it is not needed - upwards.
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