Statutory nuisance - lighting
The Clean
Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 amended the
Environmental Protection Act 1990 to bring artificial light from
premises under the statutory nuisance regime as of 6 April
2006.
The following will constitute a statutory nuisance under this
act:
"Artificial light emitted from premises so as to be prejudicial
to health or a nuisance"
Please note: Street lighting is not covered by the
Act.
This also does not apply to artificial light from:
- an airport;
- harbour premises;
- railway premises;
- tramway premises;
- a bus station and any associated facilities;
- a public service vehicle operating centre;
- a goods vehicle operating centre;
- a lighthouse;
- a prison.
Plus:
A statutory defence of "best practicable means" will be
available to:
- Artificial light emitted from industrial, trade or business
premises; and
- Artificial light emitted by lights used for the purpose only of
illuminating an outdoor relevant sports facility
The lighting of many of these facilities is also controllable
currently under planning legislation, leaving the focus of the new
provision on domestic security lighting. However, few, if any
instances of this kind will fulfil the criteria of a "nuisance"
given the specialist meaning of that word in the Act. That is not
synonymous with "annoyance" and it is narrower than "nuisance" at
common law. There is also no records of successful private
litigation. It is not about aesthetics either, rather the statutory
nuisances are essentially about public health and whilst lights
briefly turning on and off, triggered by cats and foxes, may be
irritating to light sleeping people with thin curtains, they will
rarely, if ever, be harmful. View
a DEFRA guidance leaflet on statutory nuisance from
lighting.
Avoid causing light pollution
- do not fit unnecessary lights
- do not use excessively bright lights, a 150 watt tungsten
halogen lamp is quite adequate, 300 or 500 watt bulbs are too
powerful for domestic security lighting
- do not leave lights on when they are not needed, consider
controlling lights with passive infra-red detectors, ensuring that
they are correctly aligned and installed. For a porch light that is
going to be left on all night, a nine watt compact fluorescent lamp
is normally adequate
Action against light pollution
If you are experiencing light pollution from your neighbours try
approaching the owner of the offending light, politely
requesting:
- re-angling or partial shading of the light
- fitting of a passive infra red sensor
- using a lower power bulb
It might help if you can show the neighbour the effect of the
light from "your side of the fence". You can also politely suggest
to the owner that they may be wasting money on excessive
lighting.