Dunedin Dark Skies Group member Michael Broughton asked the councillors, during his submission on the council's 10-year plan yesterday, to consider delaying introduction of the planned LED street lighting programme in the city.
About $12million has been set aside in the plan to upgrade the city's street lights to LED lighting, which the council plans to start installing later this year.
The type of LED to be used, and when different suburbs would be upgraded, has not been decided.
Mr Broughton said since the council had decided to replace the older street lighting with LEDs there had been research published which outlined the negative effect white LEDs could possibly have on human health.
There was also a debate as to whether white LEDs further obscured the night sky, he said.
He urged the councillors to investigate the use of amber instead of white, as it had a much lower effect on humans, wildlife and the night sky.
To demonstrate his case, Mr Broughton brought a light box into the hearing and asked councillors to stare at the three different coloured LED lights positioned on the box.
He then asked councillors which colour they preferred. Almost all of them said they preferred the amber light.
Mr Broughton said the council should be applauded for its moves to making Dunedin a dark skies city but it should be careful not to rush and install a light which could have a negative effect, not only on the night sky and the city's wildlife but also on human health.
Cr David Benson Pope asked whether the use of amber was internationally recognised as the best choice for dark sky cities.
Mr Broughton said there was no 100% positive choice, as all LED coloured lights had downsides as well, but Flagstaff was seen as one of the best examples of a dark sky city in the world.
Flagstaff, in Arizona, was internationally recognised as the best dark sky cityand had successfully made the transition to amber LEDs, Mr Broughton said.
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Comments
People do not stare at street lights as they travel under them. The lights need to be bright enough for safety and seeing the surrounds.
What ever happened to the policy that non major street lighting was a white light. With major roads having amber coloured street lighting so people knew what were major roads into a city at night, or has this fallen by the by with for the DCC just like the 3D painted non spec crossings. - Come on Councillors and Cull leave the current lighting and sort the drains first, Looks like the rumours s are true Teh DCC could not organise a party at brewery.
Enough of pseudo scientists using health scares to push their preferred goals. Mr Broughton wants to see the stars better so prefers less bright lighting. Trying to confuse the issue hinting at white / blue light health impact is just scare mongering.
Dunedin citizens and visitors want street lighting sufficient to safely move about and read street signs. Many local councils have fallen into the idea of installing lower wattage led lighting which simply isn't fit for purpose. Just for once Dunedin should learn from others mistakes instead of repeating them.
The blue/white light looks bright and illuminates a small area very well. However, the glare and contrast is very high and consequently everywhere else just outside that area appears much darker. It not only puts strain on the eyes but reduces the overall visibility compared to the lower K. lights such as the amber LEDs. There's plenty of research and reports on the impacts and effects of the lights now, and Best Practice indicates moving to the amber/lower K. LED lights.
Education on the harmful effects of certain wavelengths of light in certain contexts is key as is evident from some comments above.