The Isle of Wight will try again to become an International Dark Skies Park after the council unanimously agreed to support the application.
If the application is approved it would only be the 4th in England, joining Northumberland, Bodmin, and West Penwith in Cornwall, which was recognised earlier this month.
However, it could come at a nearly £50,000 cost to Islanders.
Councillor Jonathan Bacon, who had been chair of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Partnership, said this was a labour of love for him, having been involved since 2017, and is working with the Vectis Astronomical Society to develop the bid.
The corporate scrutiny committee asked about the possibility of extending the dark skies park to other areas of the Island. Cllr Bacon explained it may be difficult to satisfy the strict requirements of the adjudicating body, the International Dark Skies Accreditation (IDA).
Cllr Bacon also said they had been working on the current area for 4 years now. He told the scrutiny committee he would not like to hold up the bid by trying to fit in other areas but the dark skies park could be expanded in the future.
He added that the area proposed, which stretched across the South Wight between Freshwater, Chale and the edge of Newport, was also an area where existing lighting could be altered at a reasonable expense.
In the proposed dark skies park, 181 street lights need to be replaced at a cost of £49,453, as less intrusive lighting is needed.
The replacement work will take place if the cost is approved in the council’s budget for the next year, which will be set out in February.
Originally the cost of changing the lights, following the first rejected application by the IDA, was more than £82,000 but it has become possible to lower the price due to a reduced price from Island Roads.
A lighting code will be worked up for the area to adhere to, which will, in turn, save waste lighting, protect wildlife from unnecessary lighting and make sure lights are in the right place.
The council also hopes it will benefit tourism for the Island as it would attract people to see the ‘best light show on the planet, above our heads’, Cllr Bacon said.
Surly we don’t have to spend 50k to make our island a dark skies park
JUST TURN THE LIGHTS Off !!!!!!!!
They will have to install parking metres and build a carpark
Great news, 100% behind this. Need to make sure that the new Atherfield holiday hutches are also kept dark.
All the cutbacks of essential services and now they are going to waste 50k on this crazy idea. Another way of lining Island roads pockets. How much has been wasted on new computer system and the Floating Bridge to name just two. Get your act together and stop taking us for mugs
Why bother spending all that money which could be put towards far better causes.
Just turn the lights off in County Hall, never anybody in there.
Flagrant waste of our money. Shows council don’t care about hard pressed taxpayers.
They sure know how to waste our money !!!!!
How about putting the locals 1st ?????
Cutting services, library services etc etc surely there are more important things????
You want to waste our money on dark skies ?
Well stop building more unaffordable house’s …..
And as many day just turn the lights off!!!!!!
Councillor Bacon seems more concerned about tourism than spending our money and wasting it …..
Eg push me pull me bridge!!!!!
Far easier simple solution that doesn’t cost a penny, simply turn off the lights. Oh sorry this council loves to waste money and line their own pockets with pay rises
Another £50,000 wasted by this bunch of knobheads. When will common sense prevail and the whole lot get removed. It would be great if all council tax payers stopped their payments for about 3 months to see what knee jerked reaction came from this inept county council. If only.
Can you put a price on the wonders of the universe “starry starry night”
£50k apparently…
Unless we are getting a grant that is money that would be much better spent elsewhere.
Even if the light pollution from the industrial areas on the mainland doesn’t scupper the plan it’s a rather niche attraction.
the stars have been there for a long time and will continue to do so. The services that will be lost won’t be so lucky.
One of the prerequisites for Dark Sky Accreditation (which I would support) is a commitment (at least) to public education and a site accessible to the general public. I am not aware that either of these commitments have been made. It seems that the only beneficiaries will be a small number of people who live in the area and some B&B establishments who will advertise it to attract more tourists.
Be Great, the darker it is the higher crime potential and good area to fly tip ,great thinking iwc putting tourists above its community
Bit of a waste of time really, the orange glow of Newport can be seen in the night sky from the Military road, all of the lights will have to be turned off
Is this the same council that says it needs to raise £3 Million pounds next year from council tax ?? These people live on another planet..£50,000 really, just turn the lights off. . I have come to the conclusion that being a Cllr is just one big ego trip.
So true, waste of money that’s 50 grand would help many
There is another article on this site where the council is asking for our suggestions about saving £3million. Well here is a way they can save £50,000, cancel this stupid idea. The top of St Catherines Down is quite dark enough for this scheme as it is.
This is precisely why I no longer bother to waste my time voting in any elections. There is simply no one intelligent enough to run a council effectively on this island. No matter what political persuasion they belong to, they squander our money and charge us all more every year. They simply run things for themselves in their own private little club and couldn’t care less about providing the services they are supposed to. Total waste of space the lot of them.