Solar-powered lights to be installed next month at the Pukaki Airport subdivision, near Twizel, will not only be energy-efficient but also safeguard the Mackenzie basin's renowned night sky.
The area's night sky is being promoted as the first world heritage starlight reserve amid fears new development could affect its international significance.
However, five solar-powered lights and five solar bollards that are to be used at the Pukaki Airport development will use low-energy LED bulbs, which create a daylight effect with virtually no light spillage.
Airport board member Rick Ramsay said the Mackenzie basin, with its high sunshine hours, was an ideal place to install that type of lighting.
It meant the airport company did not have to run streetlight cabling and there would be no direct energy costs for the lights which marked the airport entrance and the position of the internal streets in the 55-section subdivision.
"The solar installation is being seen as a trial by the Mackenzie Distinct Council. Personally, I would be keen to see this type of lighting become the standard for subdivisions and replacement of existing streetlight heads to save energy costs and prevent light spill," Mr Ramsay said.
The starlight reserve initiative aimed to protect the region's sky from "light pollution".
Control of outside lighting was an important part of the reserve plan.
It would also help the Mount John Observatory at Tekapo, the principal site for astronomical research in New Zealand.
Observatory superintendent Alan Gilmore said the Pukaki development lights, supplied by Solar Bright, were ideal in providing light where it was needed without lighting up the sky.
