Dark-sky group urges more of council

The Southern Cross. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
The Southern Cross. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

LED street lights will mean clearer nights for Central Otago, but some Naseby residents seeking to establish the village as a dark-sky destination want the council to go even further.

The Central Otago District Council is gradually replacing all street lights in the district with LEDs as a cost-saving measure and a way to produce clearer night skies.

Naseby Vision chairman John Crawford said the group would like to see bulbs with an even lower "colour temperature'' to suit its plans to make the village a dark-sky tourist destination.

The lights being installed have a 3000 rating on the Kelvin colour temperature scale.

A lower number on a light means the colour will be closer to orange, making the night sky easier to see, but also making the bulb more expensive.

"It's great that the council is going to LED lights - it's certainly a lot better than what we have now.

"We believe Tekapo is going for 2700 Kelvin, so we will bring a proposal to council to see if that is possible.

"We want to make Naseby a world-recognised site. Tekapo is growing its tourism in that area, and we want to capitalise on that, too.''

The 3000K lights are still within the acceptable range of the International Dark Sky Association.

Central Otago District Council roading manager Murray Hasler said lights with lower colour ratings would not meet the needs of the rest of the community.

The council made concessions for the Naseby group, such as installing bulbs which were 3000K instead of 4000K across the entire district.

The Naseby lights would also have a dimming profile where they shifted to 60% brightness from 10pm, as opposed to midnight for the rest of the district.

"We're still going far beyond what is required by the Dark Sky Association.''

Installation had finished in Ranfurly and the council gave the go-ahead to start work in Naseby.

That will be followed by the Teviot Valley, targeting townships with some of the oldest mercury-vapour lights first.

The initial investment was $300,000 per year over five years.

Central Otago streets have been lit by high pressure sodium mercury vapour and fluorescent lights, which are expensive and less efficient.

The council predicts savings of $3.4 million over 30 years and payback on its investment within seven years.

jono.edwards@odt.co.nz


 

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